Archive for March, 2022

PRETORIA, SOUTH AFRICA — Despite high commodity prices to provide incentive for corn and wheat planting, acreage for the two crops in South Africa is expected to remain flat in the 2022-23 marketing year due to the lack of availability and high cost of inputs, according to a Global Agricultural Information Network report from the Foreign Agricultural Service of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).

The USDA said the cost of farming inputs, especially fertilizer, more than doubled this past year, ...

TEL AVIV, ISRAEL — Weather conditions are expected to lead to an 8.2% drop in Israel’s wheat production to 90 million tonnes in 2022-23, according to a report by the Foreign Agricultural Service of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).

The 2022-23 growing season began with late rains and almost no rainfall in some of the wheat growing areas. The production increase in 2021-22 was attributed to good precipitation during the mild winter with no extreme weather.

Total wheat imports are estimated ...

KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI, US — A month after Russian forces invaded Ukraine, combat continues to roil myriad world markets, not the least of which is wheat.

Uncertainty about world supplies continues to underpin US wheat prices, which built in a risk premium of about $1 a bushel in the month following the invasion. The key unknowns are how much winter wheat Ukrainian producers will be able to harvest, how much spring wheat and other crops they can seed in the just-underway ...

JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA — Bühler celebrated its 50th anniversary of establishing its business in South Africa on March 18.

To commemorate the anniversary, a special event, celebrating milestones and special memories between Bühler, its customers and staff, was held in Johannesburg.

Bühler said it plans to expand its business there as well as to other African nations.

It began on Jan. 10, 1972, when Bühler MIAG South Africa was registered in Johannesburg. René Schneider founded the joint company, and Hans Widmer was appointed ...

MEXICO CITY, MEXICO — A mixed grain production outlook for marketing year 2022-23 means Mexico will continue to be a major importer of basic grains, according to a recent Global Agricultural Information Network (GAIN) report from the Foreign Agricultural Service of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).

Corn, wheat and sorghum production is forecast marginally lower, and rice production slightly higher, the USDA said. The forecast for corn (27.6 million tonnes), wheat (3.27 million tonnes) and sorghum (4.85 million tonnes) is ...

LONDON, ENGLAND — The Ukraine-Russia conflict will impact food sectors such as bakery and cereals “severely” in the coming months, according to London-based GlobalData, a data and analytics company.

“Ukraine is a producer of wheat, maize, barley, rye, potatoes and buckwheat, and together with Russia, it supplies a sizeable chunk of the global wheat market,” said Amira Freyer-Elgendy, food and drink associate analyst for GlobalData. “China, Italy and Spain, which are key markets for the global bakery and cereal, are some ...

MOSCOW, RUSSIA — Russia temporarily has banned grain exports to a trading bloc of former Soviet countries until June 30, but a senior government official said it would keep providing special exports licenses to traders within its current quota, Reuters reported.

Russia is the world’s largest wheat exporter with Egypt and Turkey among the main buyers. It competes mainly with the European Union and Ukraine.

Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin on March 14 signed an order banning the export of wheat, rye, barley ...

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, US — Cargill, one of Russia’s largest agribusiness investors, said in a March 11 statement that it will scale back its business activities and discontinue investments while continuing to operate its food and feed facilities in response to Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine. Archer Daniels Midland Co., which has a smaller footprint in Russia, said on March 14, it would scale back as well.

Cargill has a large presence in Russia, with about 2,500 employees and investments in ...

NEW DELHI, INDIA — India signed agreements in recent days to export about 500,000 tonnes of wheat as international prices rally, Reuters reported. The nation is the second largest producer of wheat.

Buyers are seeking alternatives to Black Sea exports as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine threatens supplies from the two nations that together supply 30% of the world’s wheat exports.

India has significant wheat inventories after five consecutive record annual crops. A guaranteed high domestic price from the government of about $257 ...

KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI, US — The Russian invasion of Ukraine and ongoing conflict in the key Black Sea export region has sharply ramped up concerns about global supply, sending wheat futures prices soaring to 14-year highs and compelling the hard red winter basis Kansas City to post “no bid” for the first time in recent memory.

Kansas City wheat futures had been trading in a comparatively narrow range before Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24 in the largest conventional attack on ...