Archive for April, 2022

RABAT, MOROCCO — Challenged by severe dry and hot weather in January and February, Morocco’s common wheat, durum wheat and barley production is being driven to record lows, according to a Global Agricultural Information Network report from the Foreign Agricultural Service of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).

Marketing year 2022-23 wheat and barley total harvested area is forecast at 3.8 million hectares (9.39 million acres), about 15% below the five-year average. The USDA expects below-average yields to result in 2.25 ...

WASHINGTON, DC, US — The conflict in Ukraine between two of the world’s largest grain producers and exporters is the latest but certainly not the only factor that has led to soaring agricultural commodity prices, according to a report released on April 6 by the Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) of the US Department of Agriculture.

The paper, written by Paul Trupo, USDA international trade specialist, describes a perfect storm of inflationary factors that date back to late 2020 and include increased ...

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM — The European Commission in a report released on April 5 said it anticipates increased grain production and exports in the European Union (EU) in 2022.

“Proposed measures to increase the EU’s arable crops production will allow farmers to increase their sowing area for (corn), sunflowers and protein crops,” the Commission said. “As a result, the 2022 EU harvest may be a very good one for cereals and for oilseeds, provided normal weather conditions prevail.”

EU grain production is projected ...

WEST LAFAYETTE, INDIANA, US — US farmer sentiment in March reached the lowest reading since May 2020 during the early days of the pandemic, largely due to concerns over rising input costs caused by the war in Ukraine, according to the Purdue University/CME Group Ag Economy Barometer.

The barometer dropped to a reading of 113 in March, down 12 points from February and 36% lower than March 2021. The Ag Economy Barometer is calculated each month from 400 US agricultural producers’ ...

KIEV, UKRAINE — Ukraine’s railways are backlogged with grain shipments trying to find alternative export routes after Russia’s invasion blocked the main Black Sea ports, Reuters reported, citing APK-Inform.

Ukrainian railways had 12 terminals opened for traders, but trains were backing up and the railways will need two or three weeks to process them, APK-Inform said.

“Traders are continuing to search for the possibility of redirecting exports to the EU by rail or via Romanian ports, but the key barriers remain limited ...

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, US — The average daily volume (ADV) of soft wheat options on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) in March 2022 was 136% higher than during the same month last year, according to a CME Group press release summarizing market statistics from the first quarter and March.

The ADV of corn options for March was 62% higher than the previous year, and the ADV of agricultural options was 9% higher than the same month in 2021, with 1.3 million ...

WASHINGTON, DC, US — As anticipated, the US Department of Agriculture in its March 31 Prospective Plantings report brought a number of surprises compared to trade expectations, potentially adding more volatility to the already highly-volatile grain and oilseed markets because of the Russia-Ukraine war.

Adding uncertainty heading into spring planting were much higher input costs, especially fertilizer, which some observers expected may push farmers away from high-input cost crops like corn to lower-input cost crops such as soybeans. That scenario appeared ...