Reading Time: 2 minutes Hamburg | Reuters – China may have to start buying U.S. soybeans again in coming weeks despite the trade war between the two countries as other regions cannot supply enough soybeans to meet China’s needs, Hamburg-based oilseeds analysts Oil World said on Tuesday. In July, China imposed import tariffs on a list of U.S. goods, […] Read more
China may have to resume U.S. soybean purchases in weeks – Oil World
Heatwave ravages European fields, sending wheat prices soaring
Reading Time: 3 minutes Paris | Moscow | Hamburg | Reuters – Searing heat has devastated wheat fields across northern Europe while a combination of dry conditions and extreme rain in the Black Sea have hit output estimates, with prices soaring on fears of further crop damage. Evidence of serious harm to crops is growing as harvesting heads north in […] Read more
German farmers seek 1 billion euros in drought aid
Reading Time: < 1 minute Hamburg | Reuters – Farmers in Germany need special aid of around 1 billion euros ($1.17 billion) because of damage to harvests caused by drought and heatwave, the head of German farming association DBV said on Monday. The aid should be paid to farmers who have lost 30 percent and more of their harvests, DBV […] Read more
EU farming chief wants rapid Brexit talks, plans new dairy aid
Reading Time: 2 minutes Hannover, Germany | Reuters — Europe’s agriculture industry, already grappling with a dairy crisis, wants rapid talks about Britain’s exit from the European Union to minimise disruption, EU farming commissioner Phil Hogan said on Thursday. “Farmers know better than anyone that you need stability and certainty to plan for the future,” Hogan said in a […] Read more
Russia now expected to leave grain tax scheme intact
Reading Time: 2 minutes Moscow | Reuters — Russia, one of the world’s largest wheat exporters, is not expected to change its current regime of taxes on grain exports, sources said on Friday, following proposals to change them. Concerns over the possibility of tougher limits on Russia’s foreign sales of wheat sent global prices to a one-month high earlier […] Read more
U.S. grains: Soybeans slide as concern about Chinese growth persists
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — U.S. soybean prices dropped on Wednesday on concern that interest rate cuts in China may not be enough to stimulate growth in the key importer. Corn slipped on technical selling, and Chicago wheat lost ground on concerns about export competition as the dollar rose, traders said. Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) November soybeans […] Read more
Marubeni to close Australian grain business
Reading Time: < 1 minute Sydney/Hamburg | Reuters — Japan’s Marubeni Corp. is to close its Australian grain trading business after a review of its global operations. The move “is not in any way reflective of the performance of Marubeni Australia’s grain trading business division, which has been trading profitably for the past three years,” Makoto Kajitani, chairman and managing […] Read more
Russia’s new grain export duty sows confusion
Reading Time: 2 minutes Moscow / Reuters — Russia stiffened its bid to curb grain exports on Monday with plans for a duty on shipments, to defend domestic bread supply against a crumbling rouble. Russia, one of the world’s top wheat exporters to North Africa and the Middle East, has been exporting record volumes of grain this year as […] Read more
Syria tender for food calls for payment from Iran
Reading Time: 3 minutes Syria tendered to import food on Friday using a credit line from Iran’s export bank, in what could be a test of last month’s landmark deal to ease Western financial sanctions on Tehran. Sanctions also imposed on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government do not cover food but those on banking, asset freezes and the country’s […] Read more
Food suppliers look to win Iran contracts after nuclear deal
Reading Time: 3 minutes After years of difficulty caused by economic sanctions, suppliers are hoping a nuclear deal will make it easier to win lucrative contracts to sell wheat, sugar and other food to Iran. Iran was never barred from buying food, but EU and U.S. financial measures have made trade more difficult for the past two years by […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
