News

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 ...

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 ...