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With harvest approaching in Northern Hemisphere growing regions and crop estimates being revised up as weather remains largely favorable, wheat has become cheaper recently.

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) said in its June 10 Grain: World Markets and Trade report that “wheat prices fell across most major exporting countries since last month’s WASDE (the USDA’s monthly World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report) with improving winter wheat conditions in several key producing regions.”

Russian export quotes have declined as the winter ...

PARIS, FRANCE — France’s soft wheat production is anticipated to bounce back leading to a rise in exports and stocks of the commodity, Reuters reported citing FranceAgriMer.

Soft wheat exports to destinations outside of the EU are forecast to jump 40% to 10.5 million tonnes in the 2021-22 marketing year while exports within the EU are expected to total 7.3 million tonnes, a 22% increase compared to the previous year.

Increasing sea freight costs could boost France’s soft wheat exports to nearby ...

BEIJING, CHINA — More than 134 million tonnes of wheat have been harvested in China in 2021, a 2% increase from last year’s output, according to the National Statistics Bureau (NSB).

The rise in production is due to increased planted area and yield, the NSB said. It noted that wheat acreage and yield rose 0.9% and 1.1%, respectively.

Total summer grains output rose 2% from 2020 to 145.82 million tonnes, NBS said. Planted area for all summer grains rose 1% from the ...

WASHINGTON, DC, US — The US Department of Agriculture in its July World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates projected the carryover of wheat on June 1, 2022, at 665 million bushels, down 105 million bushels from the June outlook and down 179 million bushels, or 21%, from 844 million bushels in 2021. The 2022 carryover as forecast would be the smallest since 2014.

The 2021-22 carry-in supply at 844 million bushels was down 8 million from the previous estimate. But standing ...

WASHINGTON — The US Department of Agriculture in its July 12 Crop Production report forecast 2021 US durum wheat production down 46% from 2020, spring wheat other than durum down 41%, and winter wheat up 16%, the latter up 4% from the June forecast.

Production of spring wheat other than durum was forecast at 344.575 million bushels, down 41% from 585.99 million bushels in 2020, based on a yield of 30.7 bushels an acre, down 17.9 bushels per acre from last ...

ROME, ITALY — World hunger dramatically worsened in 2020, mostly related to fallout of COVID-19, the United Nations said.

One-tenth of the global population – up to 811 million people – were undernourished last year, according to a multi-agency report, The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World.

“Unfortunately, the pandemic continues to expose weaknesses in our food systems, which threaten the lives and livelihoods of people around the world,” the heads of the five UN agencies write in this ...

WASHINGTON, DC, US — Agriculture, together with the labor, health care and technology sectors, will be subject to heightened enforcement challenging industry consolidation and anti-competitive behavior, according to a July 9 announcement from the White House.

The announcement was issued ahead of US President Joe Biden’s signing of an executive order “to promote competition,” in a bid to lower prices for families, increase wages for workers and promote innovation and increased economic growth.

In more than 75% of US industries, “a smaller ...

ROME, ITALY — For the first time in 12 months global commodity prices slipped in June, according to the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO).

The FAO’s Food Price Index, which tracks monthly changes in the international prices of commonly traded food commodities and was released on July 8, averaged 124.6 points in June 2021, down 2.5% from May, but still 33.9% higher than its level in the same period last year.

The FAO Cereal Price Index decreased 2.6% from May but remained ...

ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN — An increase in planted area and government support for an increase in minimum support price is expected to push Pakistan’s wheat production to a new record, according to a Global Agricultural Information Network (GAIN) report from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).

Wheat production is expected to be 27 million tonnes in the 2021-22 marketing year, an 8% increase over the 25 million tonnes produced in the previous year.

The Pakistani government has approved the import of up to ...

LONDON, ENGLAND — Wheat planted area in Britain is forecast to expand by 26% in 2021 to 1.74 million hectares, according to a survey issued by the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) on July 8.

AHDB noted that sowing conditions for wheat, which is planted in the fall, are more favorable than a year ago, when many farmers shifted to planting barley in the spring.

The survey noted that wheat planted area for 2021 is in line with the five-year average.

With ...