Reading Time: 3 minutes Jakarta | Reuters — Indonesia, the world’s top palm oil producer, announced plans to ban exports of the most widely used vegetable oil on Friday, in a shock move that could further inflame surging global food inflation. The halting of shipments of the cooking oil and its raw material, widely used in products ranging from […] Read more
Indonesia bans palm oil exports as global food inflation spikes
Government under pressure to control cooking oil prices
U.S. grains: Soybeans climb on export optimism
Chicago wheat eases on profit-taking
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Chicago soybean futures rose on Wednesday, with the July contract hitting a two-month high on optimism about export demand for U.S. supplies of the oilseed, analysts said. Corn followed soybeans higher, with front contracts leading the way up in both markets. But wheat futures fell on profit-taking, easing a day after […] Read more
U.S. says sanctions on Russia don’t affect humanitarian aid, ag exports
Reading Time: 2 minutes Washington | Reuters — The United States on Tuesday took steps to make clear that U.S. sanctions imposed on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine do not stand in the way of humanitarian assistance and agricultural and medical exports, among other support. The U.S. Treasury Department in a fact sheet outlined that Americans can engage […] Read more
U.S. grains: Corn pulls back after reaching decade high
Wheat also gives up gains amid profit-taking, traders say
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Board of Trade corn futures ended lower on Tuesday, consolidating below a decade high reached earlier, as traders assessed risks to global supply from the war in Ukraine and a slow start to planting in the U.S. Wheat futures also weakened, with profit-taking pressuring the markets, traders said. The July […] Read more
Farming behind the lines: Ukraine’s farmers sow amidst wreckage
Despite their best efforts, however, famine looms as war rages
Reading Time: 5 minutes In early April, Ukrainian soldiers expelled the Russian invaders from the northern regions of Ukraine: Kyiv, Chernihiv and Sumy regions. The wounded enemy left, leaving behind burned-out war machines and the unburied corpses of his soldiers. However, the invaders managed to do a lot of damage. Many of you are probably aware of the atrocities […] Read more
Ukraine grain storage shortage adds to farmers’ woes
Reading Time: 2 minutes Zurich | Reuters — Ukraine has insufficient storage capacity even for its reduced 2022 grain harvest, the United Nations’ World Food Programme said Tuesday, with the country struggling to export existing stocks during the invasion by Russia. Jakob Kern, the World Food Programme’s emergency co-ordinator in Ukraine, cited estimates that 20 per cent of planted […] Read more
Ukraine could lack seed for years, French producers warn
Reading Time: 2 minutes Paris | Reuters — Reduced production of crop seed in Ukraine due to war with Russia could affect the country’s grain production for several years, a French seed industry group said on Thursday. Ukraine, one of the world’s largest grain exporters, is widely expected to see its harvest shrink this year as Russia’s invasion disrupts […] Read more
U.S. grains: Corn climbs on global supply fears
Wheat down on profit-taking; Argentina trucker strike supports soy, corn
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — U.S. corn futures hit life-of-contract highs on Thursday, supported by tightening global grain supplies and an uncertain production outlook as the Russia-Ukraine war continued to rattle markets, analysts said. However, trade was choppy and deferred corn contracts finished lower as traders took profits ahead of a three-day holiday weekend. U.S. markets […] Read more
ICE weekly outlook: Canola seen as teetering, likely to tumble
'A lot of emotion and tension' in market
Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — ICE Futures canola values sit high atop a precipice, tittering toward a steep drop. One recourse for canola is to bank on prices for soyoil and soymeal on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) to rise sharply in the near future — or take that step off its perch to what would be […] Read more
CBOT weekly outlook: Myriad of factors affecting prices amid USDA report
Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — For the most part, grain prices on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) were pretty much unaffected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) monthly supply and demand estimates released Friday. While wheat prices saw support due to a reduction in global wheat supplies from 2021-22 as well as dry conditions in the […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
