Global Ag News for Apr 22.24

TOP HEADLINES

Russian missiles destroy grain storage facilities in Odesa region, Ukraine says

Russian missiles hit the port of Pivdennyi in Ukraine’s southern Odesa region on Friday, destroying grain storage facilities and foodstuffs they contained, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and other officials said.

“… they hit the Sea Port Pivdennyi. Several missiles struck port facilities, not only Ukrainian, but Singapore’s as well,” Zelenskiy said in a virtual address to the NATO-Ukraine Council.

Ukraine’s Ministry for Restoration, in a post on the Telegram messaging app, said the strike “destroyed storage facilities and agricultural goods which had been intended for export to Asia and Africa”.

The regional governor said one person was injured in the strike, while Ukraine’s southern military command said the attack had sparked fires. Local Telegram channels shared videos of heavy black smoke rising from what they said was the site of the strike.

Zelenskiy, in a subsequent post on X, said the attack was “part of a deliberate Russian strategy” to harm Ukraine and countries relying on its food exports.

FUTURES & WEATHER

Wheat prices overnight are up 4 in SRW, up 3 in HRW, down 1/2 in HRS; Corn is down 2 1/4; Soybeans down 5; Soymeal down $4.50; Soyoil up 0.39.

Markets finished last week with wheat prices up 3 1/4 in SRW, up 5 1/4 in HRW, up 8 in HRS; Corn is down 3 1/2; Soybeans down 11 1/4; Soymeal down $0.90; Soyoil down 0.68.

For the month to date wheat prices are down 5 in SRW, up 4 1/2 in HRW, down 1 in HRS; Corn is down 13 3/4; Soybeans down 44 1/2; Soymeal down $2.30; Soyoil down 3.35.

Year-To-Date nearby futures are down 11.8% in SRW, down 9.0% in HRW, down 10.9% in HRS; Corn is down 8.3%; Soybeans down 11.4%; Soymeal down 12.1%; Soyoil down 6.4%.

Chinese Ag futures (JUL 24) Soybeans up 12 yuan; Soymeal up 19; Soyoil down 4; Palm oil down 72; Corn up 5 — Malaysian Palm is up 27. Malaysian palm oil prices overnight were up 27 ringgit (+0.69%) at 3953.

There were no changes in registrations. Registration total: 438 SRW Wheat contracts; 0 Oats; 10 Corn; 499 Soybeans; 710 Soyoil; 26 Soymeal; 0 HRW Wheat.

Preliminary changes in futures Open Interest as of April 19 were: SRW Wheat down 2,855 contracts, HRW Wheat down 2,688, Corn up 5,697, Soybeans down 2,147, Soymeal up 7,513, Soyoil down 5,693.

US: U.S. weather is expected to be wetter as a more active weather pattern evolves. Western Midwest and eastern portions of the Plains will be wettest during the next ten days, although rain is likely in the Delta, eastern Midwest and southeastern states as well. West-central portions of the high Plains region (including the west-central hard red winter wheat areas) will be drier than usual during the next two weeks. Eastern portions of the northern U.S. Plains will receive some of the greatest rain in this coming week. Temperatures will become near to slightly warmer than usual after the eastern Midwest and neighboring areas are cool for a while this week.

Brazil: Brazil weekend rainfall was restricted to a few areas in the north. Most of the nation trended drier. Southern Brazil is still expecting waves of significant rain during the coming ten days, although amounts are not quite as excessive as those suggested late last week. Local flooding is still possible in Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina

Argentina: Argentina received a few showers Sunday where rainfall in central parts of the nation varied from 0.05 inch to 0.75 inch with central Cordoba, central and southern Santa Fe and parts of Buenos Aires wettest. Argentina’s greatest rain will stay east of key summer coarse grain and oilseed areas in the next ten days limiting the potential impact of, although some disruption to summer crop maturation and harvesting is possible in a few areas.

Australia: Weekend rain in eastern Australia produced up to 2.00 inches of moisture near the lower Queensland and upper New South Wales coast. Drier weather coming in the next two weeks will get crop conditions back to normal and fieldwork will advance swiftly

The player sheet for 4/19 had funds: net buyers of 4,500 contracts of SRW wheat, buyers of 4,500 corn, buyers of 6,000 soybeans, buyers of 2,000 soymeal, and buyers of 500 soyoil.

TENDERS

• CORN, SOY SALES: Exporters sold a total of 216,500 metric tons of U.S. corn to Mexico and 121,500 metric tons of U.S. soybeans to unknown destinations, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said.
• CORN PURCHASE: Leading South Korean animal feed maker Nonghyup Feed Inc (NOFI) bought an estimated 137,000 metric tons of animal feed corn in an international tender.

PENDING TENDERS

• SOYMEAL TENDER: Iranian state-owned animal feed importer SLAL issued an international tender to purchase up to 120,000 metric tonnes of soymeal
• RICE TENDER DELAYED: The deadline for price submissions in the international tender from Indonesian state purchasing agency Bulog to buy 300,000 metric tons of rice was delayed to April 17
• MILLING WHEAT TENDER: Jordan’s state grain buyer issued an international tender to buy up to 120,000 metric tons of milling wheat that can be sourced from optional origins.
• FEED BARLEY PURCHASE: Jordan’s state grains buyer has issued an international tender to purchase up to 120,000 metric tons of animal feed barley.

 

 

TODAY

China’s soybean imports from US halve in March as Brazil’s gain pace

China’s soybean imports from the United States fell by half in March from a year earlier and corn exports also plummeted, as buyers favour more competitive supplies from Brazil’s hefty harvest, data showed on Saturday. U.S. suppliers face stiff competition for global export sales from South America, which have reported plentiful harvests and offer more competitive prices.

China imported 2.18 million metric tons of soybeans from the U.S in March, according to the General Administration of Customs. Its imports from Brazil rose 81% to 3.02 million tons, more than half of the total imports during the month. Total arrivals in March tumbled to a four-year low of 5.54 million tons, according to customs data, as high prices and poor hog margins discouraged crushing for feed consumption. China’s agriculture ministry said on Friday its rising preference for Brazilian supplies depended on market prices.

“China’s soybean buyers include both Chinese-funded companies and many foreign-funded companies. Where companies purchase from is completely independent,” Chen Bangxun, the ministry’s director of development planning told a press conference.

“China is the world’s largest soybean importer and maintains good trade relations with all soybean exporting countries,” he said.

For the January-March period, China’s soybean shipments from the U.S. fell 50% from a year earlier to 7.14 million tons. Total shipments from Brazil were 9.99 million tons, up 155% from a year ago. That brings Brazil’s total market share during the first quarter to 54%, compared to U.S’ at 38%, according to Reuters’ calculations.

Brazil is the world’s biggest soybean exporter, followed by the United States, and its share in China, which buys more than 60% of soybeans shipped worldwide, has been expanding over the past year.

US Cattle on Feed Rose to 11.82M Head on April 1

The feedlot herd rose 1.5% from a year ago, according to the USDA’s monthly report. Analysts were expecting a rise of 2%

• Placements onto feedlots down 12.3% y/y to 1.746m head
• Cattle marketed from feedlots declined 13.7% to 1.706m head

Ukraine Grain Exports Drop 2.6% Y/y; Spring Plantings Double

Ukraine’s grain exports in the season that started July 1 touched 39m tons, 2.6% lower than the same period a year ago, data from the Agriculture Ministry showed Friday. However, exports in the first two weeks of April alone doubled from a year ago to touch 4.2 million tons.

• The total includes:
• 15.1m tons of wheat, including 1.26m tons so far in April
  • That’s about 10% higher y/y
  • 2.14m tons of barley, down 10.5% y/y
  • 21.5m tons of corn, down 9% y/y
• NOTE: Almost all agricultural exports are being transported via Ukraine’s Danube ports and the Black Sea corridor, established last August.
• Ukrainian farmers have already planted more then 2 million hectares (almost 5 million acres) of grain and legumes by the second week of April, according to the ministry’s data.
  • That is twice as much compared with the same period last year
• NOTE: Spring planting in Ukraine started in early March

SovEcon Lowers 2024 Russian Wheat Crop Estimate to 93M Tons

SovEcon cut its estimate for Russia’s wheat crop by 1 million tons to 93m tons as dry and hot weather is expected to hit crop yields, CEO Andrey Sizov said by email.

• “After a very good winter, weather conditions have been constantly deteriorating for Russia’s southern regions. We are approaching a point of no return.”
  • Key areas of the country’s wheat growing region have received limited rains at about 40-80% of normal levels
  • Temperatures have also been above average
• Spring crops are still projected at 25.7M tons

CORN/CEPEA: Weather favors crops in Brazil; sowing activities start in the US

The harvest of the summer crop has been surpassed half of the total in Brazil, and sowing activities of the 2023/24 second season are practically over. Producers in the United States, in turn, have started to plant the new season. In general, the weather (rains and sunny days) has been favoring crops in Brazil. In the US, despite initial concerns with the warm and dry weather, producers are now relieved by the rainfall this week.

Purchasers in Brazil claim to have stocks; therefore, they expect that the good development of the crops may keep prices down. Therefore, values are decreasing, and not even recent dollar valuations, which boost the export parity, were enough to increase corn quotations this week.

From April 11-18, the ESALQ/BM&FBovespa Index (Campinas, SP) decreased 0.4%, closing at BRL 59.29 per 60-kilo bag on April 18. On the average of the regions surveyed by Cepea, corn values upped 0.3% in the wholesale market (deals between processors), but moved down 0.7% in the over-the-counter market (paid to farmers) over the last seven days.

EXPORTS – Trades continue to move at a slow pace at Brazilian ports, due to the priority to ship soybean, to the expectation of smaller production in Brazil and to the high supply in other countries, such as the US and Argentina.

Prices, however, registered slight increases because of the dollar valuation. Between April 11 and 18, dollar quotes rose 3.1%, closing at BRL 5.246 on April 18. In the same comparison, corn prices upped 0.6% at Paranaguá port (PR). Data from Secex indicate that only 29 thousand tons of corn were exported in 10 working days of April, below the 470 thousand tons verified in April/23.

CROPS – Sowing activities of the second corn crop are practically over, reaching 99.9% of the total up to April 14, according to data from Conab. Rains have been favoring the development of the crops.

As for the summer crop, the harvest had totaled 52.9% of the area until April 14, upping 1.9 percentage point compared to April 7.

SOYBEAN/CEPEA: Dollar valuation boosts prices and liquidity in Brazil

The US dollar valuation against Real, which leads the soybean from Brazil to be more interesting to international purchasers, has been boosting prices in the domestic market, increasing liquidity. On the other hand, decreases for future contracts in the US limited domestic price rises.

From April 11-18, the US dollar upped 3.1%. The ESALQ/BM&FBovespa Index (Paranaguá) moved up 1.4% in the same comparison, closing at BRL 127.45 per 60-kg bag on April 18. The CEPEA/ESALQ Index (Paraná) rose 2.1%, to close at BRL 123.65 per 60-kg bag. On the average of the regions surveyed by Cepea, soybean prices increased 2.6% in the over-the-counter market (paid to farmers) and 2.7% in the wholesale market (deals between processors).

In the US, values were pressed down by the more advanced pace of sowing activities and by the higher availability of the Brazilian product, because of the harvest progress. Data from the USDA released this week indicate that, up to April 14, sowing activities had reached 3% of the area, the same percentage registered in 2023 and higher than the 1% observed on the average over the last five years.  Now, soy growers from the Midwest in the United States are focused on the return of the rainfall, which can favor crops.

BYPRODUCTS – Despite the recent price rise of the raw material, trades involving soybean meal and oil continued to move at a slow pace this week.

The value of soy oil decreased 0.2% between April 11 and 18, at 5,135.59 BRL per ton (in São Paulo city with 12% ICMS) on April 18. On the average of the regions surveyed by Cepea, soymeal prices upped 4.8% in the last seven days.

CROPS – The soy harvest is close to the end in Brazil, despite rains in the Southeast and in the Central-West. Data from Conab indicate that 83.2% of the area had been harvested up to April 14.

Russian missiles destroy grain storage facilities in Odesa region, Ukraine says

Russian missiles hit the port of Pivdennyi in Ukraine’s southern Odesa region on Friday, destroying grain storage facilities and foodstuffs they contained, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and other officials said.

“… they hit the Sea Port Pivdennyi. Several missiles struck port facilities, not only Ukrainian, but Singapore’s as well,” Zelenskiy said in a virtual address to the NATO-Ukraine Council.

Ukraine’s Ministry for Restoration, in a post on the Telegram messaging app, said the strike “destroyed storage facilities and agricultural goods which had been intended for export to Asia and Africa”.

The regional governor said one person was injured in the strike, while Ukraine’s southern military command said the attack had sparked fires. Local Telegram channels shared videos of heavy black smoke rising from what they said was the site of the strike.

Zelenskiy, in a subsequent post on X, said the attack was “part of a deliberate Russian strategy” to harm Ukraine and countries relying on its food exports.

Putin orders Russian government to outline proposals for BRICS grain exchange

Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered his government to present proposals to facilitate grain trading with other countries including India and China, according to documents published by the Kremlin on Saturday.

The idea for the grain exchange also including Brazil and South Africa among others – which together with Russia make up the group of countries known as the BRICS – is to allow buyers to purchase directly from producers, and was already backed by Putin ahead of summit of the group in October.

The Kremlin has asked for the proposals to be presented by July 1 by Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin and Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina. Putin has also ordered the government to set out additional support measures for farmers, including funding as well as ensuring supplies of gasoline and diesel. Russia had to introduce a temporary diesel and gasoline export ban last autumn as the domestic market faced fuel shortages and rising prices amid the harvest. The restrictions were subsequently mostly lifted, though Russia again banned gasoline exports, with some exceptions, for six months starting from March 1 to prevent possible fuel shortages.

Biden EPA Allows Summer Sales of Higher-Ethanol E15 Gasoline

• US gasoline prices are climbing ahead of summer driving season
• Biden has now turned to the emergency fix three years in a row

The Biden administration is using emergency powers to authorize widespread sales of higher-ethanol E15 gasoline this summer, following a strategy it employed the previous two years.

The move is in response to rising gasoline prices and a clamor from producers of corn-based ethanol that have been frustrated by the administration’s decision to delay a permanent expansion of summertime E15 sales until next year.

The waiver announced by the Environmental Protection Agency on Friday will temporarily exempt the 15% ethanol blend from restrictions that effectively block sales across much of the country during the warmest months.

The EPA says the emergency move is in the public interest, citing conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East that have put additional pressure on global energy supply chains. “The global supply of crude oil has been disrupted and remains volatile,” the agency said in its waiver, which runs from May 1 through May 20. Additional waivers are expected throughout the summer.

The measure also could help tame pump prices that have jumped roughly 20% this year to more than $3.65 a gallon, according to auto club AAA. E15 generally sells at a discount to conventional E10 gasoline.

“This waiver is good news for corn growers and those in rural America who will benefit economically from this decision,” said Harold Wolle, president of the National Corn Growers Association. It’s also set to benefit “consumers who will save money at the pump during a busy travel season.”

Oil industry advocates have repeatedly questioned the legality of the emergency approach.

Bird Flu Found in Dairy Cows in Eight US States Now, USDA Says

Highly pathogenic avian influenza has been detected in dairy cattle in Michigan, Texas, Kansas, New Mexico, South Dakota, Idaho, Ohio and North Carolina, according to the US Department of Agriculture data Friday.

• Bird flu was previously found in cattle in some of the states, with Friday’s updated data on detections found between April 9 and April 17 showing the virus is still spreading among dairy cattle
• Additionally, USDA confirmed the virus is spreading from cow to cow
  • “We know that the virus is shed in milk at high concentrations,” the agency said in a post
  • Anything coming into contact with unpasteurized or spilled milk “may spread the virus”

Wilmar Says Missile Damaged Its Ukraine Tank Terminal Facility

Wilmar says a tank terminal facility located in Pivdennyi, Ukraine was struck by a missile on April 19, according to SGX filing.

• No casualties; assessment of damage to be carried out once fire at the facility has been put out
• Facility is owned by its 80% Ukrainian subsidiary

US Beef Production Up 2.8% This Week, Pork Rises: USDA

US federally inspected beef production rises to 524m pounds for the week ending April 20 from 510m in the previous week, according to USDA estimates published on the agency’s website.

• Cattle slaughter up 2.8% from a week ago to 620m head
• Pork production up 0.3% from a week ago, hog slaughter rises 0.1%
• For the year, beef production is 2.8% below last year’s level at this time, and pork is 0.2% above

Pig-Infused Soy Seeds From Biotech Moolec Get USDA Clearance

• Company inserts pork genes into soy to create hybrid proteins
• Unit of Argentine biotech Bioceres listed in US last year

Moolec Science SA, a seed producer trying to break into the alternative-meat market, received clearance from the US Department of Agriculture for its soybeans that are genetically modified to include pork protein.

Moolec, a unit of Argentine biotech group Bioceres, listed in New York last year. It has been working on inserting pork genes into soy, and beef genes into peas to create hybrid plant-animal proteins that can replace actual meat in sausages and burgers while satisfying meat-eaters’ palates.

Read More: Argentine Meatpacking Heir Wants to Embed Crops With Animal DNA

While the USDA’s Animal Plant Health Inspection Service said the pork-infused soy doesn’t pose an increased risk of pests, and therefore doesn’t need regulating, it said other agencies including the Food and Drug Administration may subject the seeds to requirements for full clearance.

Billions have been poured into making meat without animals. But people have turned away from plant-based products because they are expensive and fail to mimic the texture and taste of a real burger. Moolec says its soy and peas will help with the latter. Meanwhile, meat cultivated in laboratories is still enduring headwinds and is a long way from mass production.

Another Bioceres Group unit, Bioceres Crop Solutions Corp., is trying to win global acceptance for the first gene-modified wheat.

Crop Trust seeks more funding to protect global seed diversity

Crop Trust, which works to preserve crop bio-diversity, needs to more than double its $300 million endowment fund to be able to support seed banks across the world, Executive Director Stefan Schmitz said.

The non-profit organisation jointly operates the Svalbard Global Seed Vault with Norwegian authorities and offers financial and technical support to smaller seed banks, also known as gene banks, in collecting, preserving and breeding crop varieties.

Amid a surge in conflicts and adverse impacts of climate change “there is an absolutely great sense of urgency to make sure that the entire gene pool of crops is conserved,” Schmitz told Reuters.

Speaking on the sidelines of an International Center for Agricultural Research in Dry Areas (ICARDA) conference, in Rabat, Morocco, he said increased funding would enable Crop Trust to fully fund ICARDA’s gene banks.

The centre made the first seed withdrawal from the Svalbard vault in 2015, after the Syrian war disrupted the operation of a gene bank in Aleppo.

 

 

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