16th September 2022
Hurricane Ian has forced Florida fertiliser maker Mosaic Co. to halt operations and raised fears about supplies. The storm could also severely impact Florida’s citrus farmers, and orange juice futures traded higher.
Russia’s farmers have harvested a record 100 mln mt of wheat even as export taxes and logistical issues have slowed export flows. Farm associations warn that Russia’s partial mobilisation of reservists could disrupt the final stages of the harvest and the planting stages of the next crop.
Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban has signed an agreement with Russia to import two mln mt of wheat a year (until an unspecified date) at a ‘special discount’, payable in roubles.
The CEO of Russia’s VTB Bank, which owns stakes in major Russian grain export hubs, has asked President Putin to prohibit companies belonging to “persons related to unfriendly states” from buying grain and oilseeds from Russian farmers.
Ukraine has expressed doubts as to whether the Black Sea export corridor will be extended. Russia’s mobilisation and war escalation could increase risks to world food supplies.
Ukraine’s wheat harvest finished at 19 mln mt, leaving it with at least 11 million mt for export. Next year, the country expects to produce 50-52 million mt of grains and 15-17 million mt of oilseeds. Ukraine’s winter wheat sowing campaign is 15 per cent complete.
The US administration held a one-day conference on hunger, nutrition, and health – the first since 1969 – to make America a stronger, healthier nation. Corporations and non-profit groups have pledged more than $8 bn to help achieve that goal. (Click here for a summary of the event.)
France held a meeting on the margins of the UN General Assembly in New York to discuss the global food crisis. The head of the World Food Programme has urged donors to help tackle the fertiliser supply crisis.
EU vegetable farmers, particularly in northern Europe, are considering halting production due to rising energy costs. Supermarkets may have to source more supplies from North Africa.
Drought-affected harvests may lead to EU politicians loosening rules on gene-editing techniques like CRISPR.
Drought is not limited to Europe. The San Francisco Chronicle looks at what some describe as the ‘desertification’ of the state’s rice farming areas.
The Dutch government continues to struggle with their plans to reduce farm GHG emissions.
A study published in Nature argues that changes in global food production systems have enabled affordable diets but have had less favourable outcomes for nutrition, environmental health, inclusion, and equity. A separate study in Nature argues that declining crop yields will limit the potential of biofuels.
US farmers are urging the US government to challenge a looming Mexican ban on GM corn and glyphosate.
The UK government is rethinking plans for England’s post-Brexit farm subsidies. Environmentalists say the revised plans are an attack on nature.
Food inflation and tight budgets may encourage consumers to eat less meat, which some argue could end world hunger. Even so, McDonald’s has pulled their McPlant burger in the US after disappointing sales, and retail US plant-based meat sales are also falling. Shares in Beyond Meat are down more than 75 per cent this year, and CNN asks whether the company is worth saving. Some question whether plant-based meat is better for the environment than real meat. One recent study claims it is, but the debate continues.
The cost of moving container freight has halved in the past three months and is the lowest in two years. Analysts expect further contractions in the coming weeks before a bounce-back later in the year.
Malaysian palm oil futures have fallen to a near 20-month low as recession fears hurt demand. Indonesia says it will maintain the Domestic Market Obligation (DMO) policy that requires producers to supply the domestic market before they export.
Confectionary News reports on the recent European Cocoa Forum amid fears that EU plans to make companies responsible for human rights abuses and environmental harm in their supply chain will put EU processors at a disadvantage to competitors in Asia and the US. Olam Food Ingredients has called for a level playing field.
In company news, Louis Dreyfus Company has bought Australian grain trader and bulk handler Emerald Grain. Cargill has opened a new corn wet milling plant in Indonesia. ADM has inaugurated a Science and Technology Centre at the University of Illinois. Nestlé and Samsung have joined forces to launch a digital health platform. Unilever’s CEO has said he will retire at the end of 2023. And in Switzerland, Lindt has won the ‘chocolate bunny battle’ after a court ordered Lidl to stop selling imitation bunnies.
ETC Group – an NGO – reports that ten companies dominate agricultural commodity trading. COFCO is the world’s second-biggest, behind Cargill, with ADM the third. The NGO says that the commercial seed market is even more concentrated, with two companies controlling 40 per cent of the market, compared with ten companies 25 years ago.
Finally, good news for all coffee lovers: a new study has found that coffee lowers the risk of heart problems and early death. (I think we already knew that!)
Many of the above links require subscriptions. Please support quality journalism.
© Commodity Conversations ® 2022
