AgriCensus Report

China mulls ending US DDGS anti-dumping probe amid trade talks

China may be exploring ending the anti-dumping investigation into US DDGS imports after the ministry of commerce responded to a request from the US Grains Council to review the current situation, market sources have told Agricensus Tuesday.

President and CEO of the US Grains Council, Tom Sleight, confirmed that the council had raised the question of the review with the Chinese government.

Documents seen by Agricensus sent by the Chinese Alcoholic Drinks Association (CADA) to two separate companies, state that the ministry has received a request from the US Grains Council to re-evaluate China’s anti-dumping and anti-subsidy probes on US DDGS.

DDGS are an animal feed produced as a by-product to the production of alcohols like ethanol, typically using corn as a feedstock.

CADA is a central umbrella group that oversees China’s burgeoning ethanol production sector, with the letter sent by the association asking for the companies to submit details on their income over the last year, and their current DDGS production levels.

They are also asked to evaluate the potential impact on domestic companies and farmers’ incomes in the event that the probes are terminated.

All responses are required to be returned by April 10, according to the document, with CADA then submitting a summary to the ministry’s Trade Remedy and Investigation Bureau within a week.

The move sparked some excitement across Asia markets in early trading, although it stops short of greenlighting the restoration of US exports to the country as it appears to amount to another goodwill gesture rooted more in symbolism.

For the US, limits on DDGS exports into China predate the current trade war, with a series of measures enacted against US DDGS that has massively reduced the country’s export outlet.

In 2016, China was the biggest customer for US DDGS, soaking up 2.3 million mt over the year before a series of import duties slashed the competitiveness.

That slashed exports to 371,667 mt in 2017, with further measures paring that figure back to 206,657 mt in 2018, according to data from the US Grains Council.

As of January 2019, the latest month for which export data is available, China imported just 1,918 mt of US DDGS, down 91% on the same month of 2018.

“It is good news, but it will depend on how the trade talk goes,” one corn importer told Agricensus, although he expected that the review could be completed prior to the end of trade talks.

The impact on the feed market in China was not expected to be significant, according to market sources, as domestic production only accounts for one or two million mt, while soymeal has been relatively cheap this year and demand has been hit by African swine fever outbreaks.

“If the trade talks do go well in April, this should be approved,” a second China-based source said.

“We did ask the ministry of commerce to review the tariffs, as per their rules. This was not at the request of US Trade Representative,” Tom Sleight, president and CEO of the US Grains Council told Agricensus.

The Chinese Alcoholic Drinks Association declined to comment when contacted by Agricensus, while no comment had been received from the US Grains Council at time of publication.

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Women in Commodities

The programme for the FT Commodities Summit in Lausanne this year included a breakfast panel on Women in Commodities. Just holding the panel proved rather controversial; some conference attendees argued that the FT should have made more of an effort to include women on all the panels, and not have a separate one for them.

The summit organizers told me that they had tried hard to do just that, but were sadly unable to find industry leaders who were female. Instead, panel after panel at the conference consisted of old white men in blue suits, white shirts and the, apparently obligatory, Hermes tie. (I mean no disrespect; I am white and just as old, and was for the occasion dressed in exactly the same way!) The failure to find more women wasn’t the FT’s fault; it is just that the top echelons of the industry are currently almost 100 percent male.

Another criticism that I heard voiced at the event was that the women’s panel was 100 percent female. Indeed one of the panel participants told me afterwards that she had been surprised that, when she had looked out over the audience, she had seen that it was almost entirely male. She said that it had taken her a while to realize that that was because many of the women at the event were at that moment on the stage!

She also expressed her disappointment that the panel was entirely female. “It is no good just us women talking together,” she told me afterwards. “What we need is for a change of attitude among the men in the industry…for men to realize their unconscious biases, and accept the contribution that women can make to the sector.”

The panel, sponsored by the metals-trading Gerald Group, got off to an awkward start. In opening remarks, the company’s (female) COO and Board Member made a brave effort to convince the audience that Gerard actively sought out and promoted women. No sooner had she sat down than the FT journalist reminded her that Gerard had been criticised last year for holding their annual Metals Week party at the Playboy Club, complete with Playmates in low-cut, black satin leotards and fluffy tails. All the COO could do to justify that decision was to tell the journalist that it hadn’t bothered her and, in any case, it was “a convenient location.”

This type of thing highlights the sector’s (sometimes justified) sexist and macho image. Quite simply, there are few women currently in commodities because few women wanted to be in commodities. The sector’s image often puts women off from wanting to join in the first place. Much therefore needs to be done first to improve behaviour, and then second, to get the message across that commodity trading is no longer the macho sexist world that it once was. I hope this website is doing just a little bit to help in that cause.

There was some debate on the panel as to whether companies should positively discriminate in favour of women; some thought they should, others not. There are good arguments on both sides, but surely it is in the interest of every company to have more women on board. As every recruiter knows, hiring the right person is not just, or even necessarily, a question of academic qualifications and experience. When you recruit someone you are looking for the best person to fit in with, or lead, a team. And if your team is predominately male, then the best person may well be female.

There was also some discussion over eliminating unconscious bias among recruiters. A panellist from the mining sector explained how her company trains managers to be aware of their unconscious biases regarding gender, race and religion.

However, one panellist made the moot point that unconscious biases exist not just in our sector, but also across the board. She gave the example of journalists who always ask senior female executives about their children, and how they manage their work life balance. They never pose that question to a senior male executive. (Funnily enough, I had asked Chris Mahoney from Glencore that very question the previous day! I will be posting his interview next week!)

The panellist from the mining sector did make another key point: the mining industry is changing. She highlighted that one of her company’s mines in South Australia is now managed from Perth, making it easier to attract women. In any case, she added, the mining sector is replacing muscles with machines, making it easier for women to be competitive within the sector.

But it is not just mining that is changing. Trading is also changing with more money now earned from supply chain management, logistics, and innovation than from outright trading. This change will, I believe, inevitably lead to more women seeking to join the sector.

But even when more women are attracted to sector, women need to do more to help themselves to advance within an extremely competitive environment. One panellist told me afterwards that women tend to believe that all they need to do to advance in their careers is to work hard and do a good job. After all, their hard work at school was rewarded by good grades in the final exams. Unfortunately, this is not enough in the world of business. As Patricia Manso pointed out recently, hard networking and self-promotion are essential in any career.

So in conclusion, the commodity trading industry is changing and in so doing so will naturally attract more women. Even so, the sector must continue to improve both its behaviour and its image. It also has to mentor male managers to recognise their unconscious biases. And once they are in the sector, women need to do more to get their contribution noticed.

Unfortunately, it may take a generation for there to be an equal number of men and women on the stage at a future FT Commodities Summit. I may not be around to see it, but it will happen.  

Commodity Conversations Weekly Press Summary

Kellogg announced that it has sold its biscuits, snacks and ice-cream businesses to Ferrero for about USD 1.3 billion as it seeks to focus on its core cereal brands. Nestle had also sold its US confectionery business to Ferrero in 2017, as many firms struggle with the fast-changing demand in the packaged food sector. In contrast, Ferrero’s snack division is reporting solid growth and the family-owned business has made four purchases in the US alone in the past two years.

Ferrero was rumored to be one of the firms interested in buying Australia’s Arnott’s biscuit brand and Denmark’s Kelsen Group from Campbell Soup but sources are saying that Mondelez is now the sole bidder. The deal could be worth up to USD 2.5 billion and would add to Mondelez’ growing biscuit portfolio as the firm has been purchasing fast-growing snack brands around the world.

Consolidation is also expected to happen in the agricultural trading world, although nothing has been announced so far. The head of Glencore Agri said last week that the sector needed to consolidate because it was facing a fragmented overcapacity. At the same event, the CEO of Louis Dreyfus said the firm would look to purchase regional partners and set up joint ventures in Asia.

Meanwhile, a Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) study looking at end-of-day prices between 2013 and 2018 found that the increase in algorithmic trading had not caused an increase in volatility, confirming the group’s decision to shelf a plan to regulate automated trading. The CME president said that algorithmic trading was “a natural evolution” which made the market more efficient.

In an attempt to refinance part of its existing debt, Olam announced that it has secured a three-year credit facility of USD 350 million, which will be linked to the firms “digital maturity score” in what is being called the world’s first “digital loan”. The process is being handled by the Boston Consulting Group which will assess the score based Olam’s digital growth.

Cargill reported USD 566 million in net earnings for the past quarter, up 14% on year as spending cuts helped offset lower revenues as a result of the ongoing US-China trade war as well as the swine fever in China. The CEO said the firm was benefiting from a push to grow in the protein business which will help make it less reliant on its trading business.

The plant-based protein segment saw some big announcements this week as Burger King announced that it will start selling Whoppers with a meatless burger made by Impossible Foods in the US. Just a day later, Nestle announced that it will start selling its plant-based burger in Europe this month, called the Incredible burger. It will launch a slightly different version, called the Awesome Burger, in the US before the end of the year. Big firms are racing to reach the market first, and get FDA approval. Beyond Meat, supported by Bill Gates, is already selling in the US, while Unilever recently purchased the Vegetarian Butcher.

Plant-based meat alternatives are seeing a rise in popularity as they are believed to have a much smaller carbon footprint, a theory this recent study confirms. The Union of Concerned Scientists found that US families were able to reduce their greenhouse emissions without affecting their nutritional intake when switching to plant-alternatives. On the other hand, they noted that red meat might still be very popular among low-income families because it remains the cheapest source of protein. The study supports the fact that individuals can make a difference, which goes against the argument that the whole food system needs to be completely overhauled for changes to be felt.

But the most surprising scientific discovery announced this week, if not ever, is that cheese will taste better if it has been aged while hip-hop music was playing in the background. Experts found that the cheese texture evolved differently when it was contained in a box with speakers. They all agreed that hip-hop cheese tasted better than rock n roll and jazz cheese.

This summary was produced by ECRUU

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AgriCensus Report

Brazil first quarter soybean exports surge 30%

Brazil exported 17.2 million mt of soybeans over the January-March period, an increase on the 13.2 million mt exported over the same period last year because of an earlier harvest this year.

The most apparent gains were made in February when exports more than doubled year-on-year to 6.1 million mt.

Brazil exported 8.96 million mt of soybeans during March, up almost 2% from the same month last year, government data shows.

Volumes in March are typically higher than the first two months of the year as the harvest picks-up pace hitting a peak in April and May.

The year-on-year increase in March was due to an earlier harvest alongside heavy rainfall in some states that affected the pace of progress for most of the month. 

But analysts have said dryer weather toward the end of the month prevented a decline in production and continuing dry weather could result in better yields in April as the southernmost states increase planting, putting pressure on farmers to sell more beans. 

Official estimates suggest Brazil will export 70 million mt of soybeans this year, down sharply from the 84 million mt exported last year.

For corn, exports over the first quarter totalled close to 6.9 million mt, up 41% on the first quarter of last year when exports totalled 4.9 million mt. 

Exported volumes over March totalled 891,900 mt, up 47% on March 2018’s volume of 605,300 mt volume but down on February and January’s totals of 1.75 million mt and 4.22 millon mt respectively.

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The FT Commodities Summit

The FT Commodities Global Summit last week in Lausanne once again attracted many of the top players in the industry. The conference has established itself as the “must-go-to” commodity event of the year; it is the only event that I know of where you can get a genuine feel of what is occurring in the wider markets. But not only that, it is the only commodity conference I know of without a single PowerPoint presentation! Paradise!

This year’s event was entitled “Natural Resources in Transition”, and was, as expected, largely focused on the extractive industries: oil and gas, and metals. Electric vehicles were at the centre of the debate, and the effect that they would have on the demand for oil, lithium, cobalt and copper. Just a few years ago, people were discussing when oil production would peak; now the debate is about when demand will peak. The consensus at the conference was that demand will stop growing sometime around 2035, but there was some disagreement as to whether it would then decline or stabilize.

But then consensus is often wrong. At last year’s summit there was a consensus that the supply of cobalt would not keep pace with its demand from battery manufacturers; everyone at that time was bullish on cobalt prices. This year, there was a consensus that, given the right price incentives, supply is far more elastic than you would expect.

Most of the unexpected cobalt production has apparently come from artisanal mining in the DRC, unfortunately the type of mining with the worst safety conditions and greatest prevalence of child labour.

Slowing growth in oil demand is encouraging the trading companies to look more closely at renewable energy sources, and I was surprised to hear biofuels being discussed in a positive light—the first time for many years. With the current agricultural surpluses and low prices, biofuels are once again profitable and, because they help maintain farm incomes, are once again finding favour with politicians. I don’t want to be a pessimist, but that will probably only last until the next spike in food prices. The food versus fuel debate has not gone away; it is only on hold.

In addition to a keynote speech by Johnny Chi, the Chairman of COFCO International, there were three key panels on food and agriculture. The first, a “Leaders’ Debate, was with Ian McIntosh, CEO of LDC, Chris Mahoney, CEO of Glencore Agriculture, and Stefano Rettore, Head of Origination, Trading and Operations at ADM. The discussion was more upbeat than in a similar panel last year; margins have obviously improved, undoubtedly helped by the market disruption caused by the trade war between the US and China.

The main point of disaccord on the panel was the right strategy to follow in response to what appear to be structurally declining margins. As LDC has made clear over the past year, the company is looking to diversify beyond straight trading to become a food company with an integrated supply chain. Similarly, ADM has made a big push over the past years into food ingredients and flavours. Glencore, however, believes their money is better spent on trying to increase efficiency in the portion of the supply chain in which they already operate, rather than seek margins in related businesses.

The second agricultural panel was on Blockchain, and what it could bring to the trading industry. The answer appears to be improved efficiency and security, and lower costs—but no revolution. Also, it was made clear that Blockchain will take time to put into place; it is better to go slowly and get it right rather than rush it and mess it up. All of the major trading companies are cooperating on the project.

The third agricultural panel was on The Future of Food. The panel asked itself the question, “What does the consumer want?” The answer, it seems, is, “It’s complicated.”

There was agreement that environmental sustainability and human rights are now central to the food supply chain; they are no longer a “nice to have, if possible.” However it is not easy to build a truly sustainable and traceable supply chain. It is also expensive, and someone has to pay. Unfortunately that “someone” is rarely the consumer; it is more likely to be the farmer and the trader. (Even so, it still has to be done.)

Apart from a demand for sustainability and the respect for human rights, the future of food is a swirling mass of different trends and beliefs, beliefs that are now held with almost religious fervour.  There is an old saying that “you are what you eat”, but you could now add, “you eat what you believe.”

My takeaway was that the future of food is twofold. It is first “flexitarian”, with meatless Mondays and a greater concern for animal welfare. And second, and perhaps somewhat contradictory, the trend will continue for diets to contain more protein and fewer carbohydrates.  So no respite then for the sugar industry.

Commodity Conversations Weekly Press Summary

Louis Dreyfus reported a net profit of USD 355 million in 2018, up 12% on year, thanks in large part to the US-China trade war which boosted demand for Brazilian soybean. Analysts suggested that the group is recovering, especially after the majority shareholder managed to buy out other family members. She earlier said the company was looking into “strategic partnerships” but the CEO dismissed any major buyouts or tie-ups. He argued that the main trading houses – the ABCDs – all had very different businesses now which would make any synergy unlikely. On the other hand, he expects that acquisitions or joint ventures at regional levels will continue to make a lot of sense.

ADM created a new board committee on sustainability and corporate responsibility. The CEO explained the board would help ensure that sustainability remained at the core of the group’s strategy. Separately, the group said the floods in the US Midwest were likely to reduce Q1 operating profits in its Origination and Carbohydrate Solutions units by USD 50-60 million, due to disruptions in ethanol and corn processing. Also in the US, ADM started producing organic wheat flour to meet the growing demand for organic packaged foods.

After a successful pilot project in China, Cargill and Heifer International announced the launch of the Hatching Hope Global Initiative which aims to help smallholder farmers improve their economic situation while helping feed the world by promoting the production of poultry. The CEO of Heifer argued that chicken and eggs provided valuable nutrients and were more affordable than other meat proteins thanks to their fast-growing cycle.

Earlier this month, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) asked market participants to come forward if they have been involved in or witnessed acts of briberies in other countries. The CFTC said it will be working with the US Justice Department. The focus at the moment seems to be on the oil and gas sectors, with several investigations already underway, but bankers suggest this could force trade houses to re-evaluate the role of agents across commodities, traditionally used to create access and help them get beneficial deals.

Greenpeace activists are urging Nestle to step up and reduce its use of single-use plastic, said to be used for 98% of its product offering. Nestle has admitted they needed to do something, the NGO said, arguing, however, that they were not moving fast enough. In the US, Nestle Waters North America announced the acquisition of beverage-delivery service Diamond Springs. Nestle is also building an R&D centre in China, its second biggest market, so that it can develop and commercialise new products faster. The CEO said that China was one of the “fastest-changing food and beverage markets in the world.”

Another company banking on China is Starbucks, where the coffee group opens a new store every 15 hours. The CEO explained that the tie-up with the Alibaba delivery platform has been key for the group’s growth, adding that it had also partnered with Uber in the US to that same end. The group is also investing USD 100 million in a new food start-up venture fund, as well introducing greener cups and developing disease-resistant coffee trees.

The US Environment Protection Agency said last week that it was looking at overruling the power of states to curb the use of pesticides that have been approved at the federal level. The agency is being sued by pesticide companies that argue their products fulfil federal requirements and therefore should not be limited anywhere in the country. The American Association of Pesticide Control Officials, however, said it intended to fight any attempt by the EPA to undermine “states’ right to protect their environment.”

This comes at the time a new study by EWG found that 70% of fruits, nuts and vegetables in the US have traces of pesticides, with strawberries having the highest. Even worse, 90% of people have traces of pesticides in their bodies. On the other hand, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) forecast that yield losses of the major crop staples due to pests is expected to increase by 10-25% for each degree of global warming, in addition to the 20-40% of the world’s crops yields that are already lost to pests every year. The FAO explained that climate change was making it harder to fight pests whose location and behaviour was changing.

The chemical pesticides’ industry slowed by 6% last year to USD 64 billion, according to International Bio Intelligence (IBO). On the other hand, the world’s biological pest control market has grown by 17% in 2018 to reach USD 3.8 billion and is expected to reach USD 11 billion by 2025. Farmers told the IBO that, unlike chemical pesticides, the dosage requirements for biological pesticides actually dropped over time. Brazilian agribusiness group Agrosalgueiro said that this was revolutionising agriculture, especially as it could be used to fight diseases for which there existed no chemical pesticides.

This summary was produced by ECRUU

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AgriCensus Report

ADM Q1 profits set for $50-60m hit caused by floods, cold weather

Agribusiness major Archer Daniels Midland said Monday that flooding across the US that has destroyed grain and oilseed stocks and swept away silos will reduce its pre-tax operating profit by up to $60 million this quarter.

The company – the ‘A’ in the so-called ABCD quartet of companies that dominate agribusiness alongside Bunge, Cargill and Louis Dreyfus – said the bulk of the hit would be shared equally between its carbohydrate solutions and origination businesses, which include corn trading and ethanol production.

“Rail transportation has been disrupted throughout the region; our corn processing complex in Columbus, Nebraska, was idled due to flooding and currently is running at reduced rates; and unfavourable river conditions since December are severely limiting barge transportation movements and port activities,” ADM said in a statement.

The US Midwest has suffered a severe winter as record-breaking cold weather that has hit corn processing volumes due to a slowdown in rail and truck transportation.

And earlier this month, heavy rains have meant widespread flooding across major corn and soybean growing areas and shut 10-17% of ethanol production capacity, according to various estimates.

“Taken together, we expect these severe weather disruptions to have a negative pre-tax operating profit impact to ADM of $50 million to $60 million for the first quarter,” the company said.

Q1 operating profit for the carbohydrate solutions and origination business was $213 million and $45 million, respectively.

ADM is the first major agribusiness to outline the financial damage the floods will have.

Earlier on Monday, the USDA said it was assisting farmers in Iowa and other communities affected by the flooding.

The floods will likely hit corn plantings and boost soybean plantings, some analysts say.

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Out of the Shadows

Louis Dreyfus Company is due later this week to publish their annual report and accounts for 2018. The company’s CEO told Reuters that year-to-date results had “significantly improved;” he suggested an upturn after a first half sapped by a soy price-hedging effect and emerging trade tensions. To put that in perspective, 2017 group net income was $225 million, excluding the now-sold metals business, close to 2015’s decade low of $211 million and well below a record $1 billion in 2012.

In the late 1970s, when he was researching his book, Merchants of Grain, Dan Morgan had considerable difficulty in obtaining any information from the “shadowy and unknown” grain trading companies. At that time they did not publish financial results.

With the exception of Cargill, they provided minimal assistance, or none at all, in the preparation of his book.

They had nothing against Dan Morgan; it was just the way things were forty years ago. At that time a US Senator said of the grain multinationals, “No one knows how they operate, what their profits are, what they pay in taxes and what effect they have on foreign policy—or much of anything else about them.”

In 1976 the French magazine L’Expansion, called Louis Dreyfus, “a commercial empire of which one knows nothing.”  Pierre Louis-Dreyfus invited Dan Morgan to lunch in his private dining room. The fish with cream sauce was apparently superb, as was the wine, but the journalist left without learning anything of interest about the company.

Georges André, head of André & Cie—and the original “A” of the ABCD group of trading companies—invited Dan to “an excellent lunch of brook trout in a village restaurant,” but all he got out of it was some historical data. ADM—the new “A” in the ABCD group—was no more open. When Dwayne Andreas became CEO of the company in 1974, one of the first things he did was to eliminate a 27-person public relations department.

Dan was granted a one-hour interview with Michel Fribourg, president of Continental Grain, but later received a letter from Continental saying, “It has been decided that we choose not to participate in further interviews with you.” The company had been in the grain business since the start of the nineteenth century, had never published a company brochure.

None of the trading houses were more obsessed with secrecy than Bunge. Dan Morgan wrote that, “Bunge was a private company about which nobody knew and nobody could speak…To Bunge officials public relations meant keeping Bunge out of the limelight.”

But then the company’s controlling families had a particular reason for avoiding the limelight. Five years earlier, in September 1974 in Buenos Aires, the Montoneros—an Argentine youth movement—kidnapped Jorge and Juan Born, 40 and 39 years old respectively, the grandsons of the founding partner and heirs apparent of the company.

Juan Born was released six months later, in March 1975, and Jorge in June 1975. No details were even given as to the ransom paid for Juan, but the Montoneros claimed that the Bunge family had paid $60 million for the release of Jorge. Although that doesn’t sound like much now, it was a huge sum in 1975, equivalent at the time to one third of the annual Argentine defense budget.

It should come as no surprise that after the kidnapping, the family withdrew even further behind a veil of secrecy. Dan Morgan “did not get near the Hirschs or the Borns, the ruling families of the Bunge Company.” The closest he got was an hour-long interview with the president of Bunge’s North American division. After the meeting, Bunge’s public relations agent told him that he had “neither the time nor the inclination for further discussions.”

Compare Dan Morgan’s difficulties in obtaining information with the ease with which Daniel Ammann gained access to Marc Rich for his book, The King of Oil, published in 2010.  Daniel wrote, “These oil and commodity traders…shared their thoughts and their memories with me, opened doors and documents, and explained the technicalities of trading and financing. They tried to show me the big picture, and they revealed their little secrets.”

But then perhaps Mr Ammann was just lucky in his timing. Up until the series of interviews that formed the backbone of his book, Marc Rich had systematically avoided reporters and was, “considered the most secretive trader of the notoriously furtive commodities trading community. For years, no one had ever seen a photograph of him. The media had to resort to artists’ sketches for their reports.”

Glencore, the successor company to Marc Rich, is now a public company, as too are ADM and Bunge. Cargill and Dreyfus are still privately owned, but both act as if they are publicly quoted; they publish detailed company reports and actively interact with the wider community, whether bond investors, clients, banks or journalists. COFCO, the new giant among the grain trading companies, is Chinese-government owned.

All of the large agricultural commodity companies are now active on social media, and actively engage with NGOs on issues related to environmental sustainability or human rights.    

This is a significant change since 1979, when Dan Morgan wrote, “The companies…stay in the shadows most of the time. Perhaps it was the ancient nightmare of the middleman-merchant that made them all so secretive—the old fear that in moments of scarcity or famine, the people would blame them for all their misfortunes, march upon their granaries, drag them into the town square and confiscate their stocks.”

Agricultural merchants are still being dragged into the town square of public opinion, and they are still regularly being blamed for varying misfortunes, but they are now very much out of the shadows.

I hope to publish my new book, “Out of the Shadows: The New Merchants of Grain” this autumn.

Commodity Conversations Weekly Press Summary

The Presidents of Brazil and the US met this week to discuss the possibility of signing new trade deals, although experts noted that the trade between the two countries was already well-balanced. The US wants to expand ethanol exports but Brazil said it would only consider the move if it can export more sugar to the US, and few expect either side will make significant concessions.

The Brazilian President did mention the possibility of expanding trade relations with China. Having already invested USD 2 billion in Brazil’s agriculture, China is now interested in investing in the ethanol sector as the country prepares to meet its 2020 ethanol mandate. China absorbed 36% of Brazil’s agricultural exports and spent some USD 35 billion to buy Brazilian agricultural products in 2018, up 33% on year.

The EU and the US hit a roadblock during talks on a new trade agreement as the EU does not want to include agriculture. The EU did offer concessions, such as giving the US a share of its duty-free import quota of hormone-free beef, in an attempt to convince the White House to remove anti-dumping duties. Previous concessions included buying more soybean or classifying US soy as a sustainable biofuel feedstock. Australia and Uruguay – who took advantage of the beef quota when it was first opened in 2009 – could challenge this latest move at the WTO.

The US-China trade war was expected to have a long term impact on global agricultural tradeflows but the spread of the African swine fever outbreak in China could now counteract some of these changes. The crisis is helping US pig farmers as China imported huge amounts of pork over the past two weeks despite the 62% tariff recently imposed. However, the US is being very careful to protect its pig population from the virus and the USDA recently seized 450mt of contraband pork products from China, the largest seizure of contraband food in US history.

An expert suggested that the outbreak will continue to lower Chinese demand for soybean for years as feed demand will drop, although US soybean could be diverted to feed the pigs exported to China. Nonetheless, US soybean area will stay almost constant this year as farmers have no viable alternative – other grains such as sorghum and corn are also subject to Chinese duties. Farmers also hope the government will resolve the trade dispute or offer another aid package.

In Japan, Nestle announced that it will expand its range of KitKat ruby chocolates after a successful launch in 2018. Ruby chocolate was developed by Barry Callebaut and is supposed to be the fourth kind of chocolate – after dark, milk and white chocolate. The firm said it had been surprised by the speed and scale of social media reactions, which was more efficient than any marketing campaign. It added that chocolate trends were now made in Asia, as Asian tends to be more open to new foods. In the US, the biggest chocolate market, ruby chocolate still has not received government approval. Specialty ingredients makers, such as Denmark’s probiotic and enzyme maker Chr Hansen Holding and England’s Tate & Lyle, which makes non-sugar sweeteners and texturizers, are also expected to benefit from these new consumer trends.

ADM announced that it has agreed to purchase one of the biggest citrus ingredient maker in Europe, Ziegler Group. The firm recently purchased another citrus firm, Florida Chemicals, and highlighted that it was positioning itself to be a leader in the fast-growing citrus flavour sector.

Euromonitor warned that image recognition might start to drop as consumers switch to healthier food. For the moment, however, packaged foods remain very popular. Some 41 out of Euromonitor’s Top 100 Megabrands in 2019 were packaged food items, with Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Nescafe and Lay’s taking the first four positions of most valuable brands. An unexpected brand, Google, is making a foray into the food world by promoting Refresh, a working group it founded to promote artificial intelligence and machine learning in agriculture.

We know that the food we eat has a huge influence on our lives, but researchers are now saying that food might even change the way we speak. The birth of agriculture meant farmers could make softer food – think cheese and porridge – which affected the shape of our teeth and jaws, according to this new paper. As a result, people were better able to make the ‘f’ and ‘v’ sounds which started to spread along with agriculture.

This summary was produced by ECRUU

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AgriCensus Report

US police seize huge haul of smuggled Chinese pork amid swine fever outbreak

On Friday, US border police announced their biggest agricultural overhaul seizure in the US: more than 1 million lbs of Chinese pork were found being smuggled into the port of New York in Newark.

The bust, which involved more than 100 customs and border protection officials and dogs, found the meat hidden in 50 containers of food and detergent products.

“The pork was smuggled, from China, in various different ways including in ramen noodle bowls to Tide detergent,” said Troy Miller, director of New York field operations for the US customs and border protection.

The outbreak is alarming because it comes as China is battling with a deadly outbreak of African swine fever (ASF).

The announcement comes as the oilseed and feed market speculates the size of the impact of the current outbreak in China, home to half of the world’s pigs.

Official government figures show that at least 1 million pigs have been culled in 115 outbreaks across the country since August last year.

But virtually no-one believes those figures, with most analysts claiming the figure is much higher.

Nor does the market believe that the disease is on the wane, despite the official figures showing exactly that.

Looking at official reports from China’s ministry of agriculture shows that there were five incidents in August, rising to 25 in September, hitting a peak of 27 in October and falling away to just five incidents in February.

On Monday, the USDA said the size of China’s herd will fall 13% by the end of the year, saying many outbreaks have not been reported because provincial governments typically do not report the disease to the federal government.

“Some contacts have reported instances where individuals were actually discouraged or prevented from publicizing outbreaks in their region… a hog manager in Shandong Province was allegedly arrested for reporting an ASF outbreak to the national government, after his reports to local government were ignored,” the USDA said.

In addition, the compensation paid to farmers is less than half the market value of the pig, leaving many to cull pigs and sell the pork as uncontaminated meat.

“At this point, it is unclear when China’s government will have sufficient control over the ASF situation to convince domestic industry to begin restocking and expanding. Many in the swine industry are still taking a wait-and-see approach to ASF in making business decisions,” the USDA said.

Miller of US Customs and Border Protection said if the disease spreads to the United States, it could cause $10 billion worth of damage to the nation’s pork industry in just one year.

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