Sugar Turns Bitter for India Mills as Losses Increase
A pricing deadlock between the government and sugar millers is threatening to paralyze the sugar industry in the state of Uttar Pradesh which produces 30% of India’s sugar output. The government has set a price for sugar cane that is uncorrelated to the market price of sugar to gain political support from the state’s cane growers. By d
Read moreQatar Increases its Investment in Turkey’s Agribusiness Sector
After talks with Turkey’s president, Qatar’s emir has directed the CEO of state-owned Hassad Food Co. to make a US$500 million agricultural investment in Turkey to help the country which lacks arable land to gain better food security.  After a two and half hour meeting with Turkey’s Agriculture Minister Mehdi Eker, an agreement was sett
Read moreAnalysis: Wider Panama Canal Could Increase Competition for Grain
Once the Panama Canal expansion is completed in early 2016 shippers will likely need to source grain from deeper inland in the U.S. to fill the larger ships, resulting in increased competition and higher basis bids. However, because the number of foreign grain buyers that can handle the massive volumes of grain needed to fill the larger ship
Read moreRussia on Track for Largest Grain Harvest in Six Years
Russia is forecast to harvest its largest grain crop in six years and second largest since the break-up of the Soviet Union – harvesting between 104 and 106 million tons according to SovEcon’s latest estimate. The country harvested a record 108 million tons in 2008.  SovEcon has also raised its estimate for Russia’s 2014 wheat crop to 6
Read moreMargin Squeeze Sends U.S. Ethanol Output Tumbling
Ethanol production in the U.S. fell 4.5% last week from the previous week to 889,000 barrels per day marking the industry’s weakest showing since March because of falling prices. The decline in production is one of the largest since 2010 and follows tightening margins as ethanol prices fall at a significantly faster pace than corn prices.Â
Read moreBrazil Farmland Prices Soar 17% in 13 Months
At the end of June of this year the value of the 304,000-hectare farmland portfolio of SLC Agricola was up 19% from a value of R$2.68 billion (US$1.12 billion) to a value of R$3.19 billion (US$1.33 billion) over the same point last year. The valuation compiled by Deloitte Touche Tomatsu included only land, not including machinery or building
Read moreNew Bird Flu Strain Causing Concern for Poultry Producers in SE Asia
The United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization has issued a warning to closely monitor a newly emerged, highly virulent H5N6 strain of avian flu that has been detected since April in domestic birds in China, Laos, and Vietnam. H5N6 has proven to be of particular concern because it has been detected in widely distanced locations and
Read morePalm Oil Imports by India Seen Surging to Record as Prices Slump
For the year ending October 31, palm oil shipments to India may reach 9 million tons, outpacing a July estimate of 8 million tons by India’s largest importer Ruchi Soya Industries Ltd, and breaking the previous record of 8.3 million tons imported in 2012/13 according to the Solvent Extractor’s Association of India. Prices for both palm a
Read moreU.S. Land Market Weakest Since World Economic Crisis
The U.S. farmland price index compiled by Creighton University in Nebraska has fallen to its lowest point since March 2009 at the height of the global economic crisis. The index has fallen to 33.7 compared to a figure of 50.0 representing a neutral market, with the decline being attributed to a sustained drop in corn, soybean, and wheat futu
Read moreChina Quota Cut Leaves Cotton Market “In a Coma”
China, the world’s top cotton-consuming country has announced that it is cutting its levy-free cotton quota for 2015 to the minimum required by the World Trade Organization (WTO) of 894,000 tons in an attempt to reduce the country’s large stockpiles. In 2013/14 the country extended its quota by an additional 600,000 tons but that option
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