Global food commodity prices rose sharply in November to their highest level in nearly six years, according to a benchmark United Nations report released on Thursday. The FAO Food Price Index averaged 105.0 points during the month, up 3.9% from October and 6.5% higher than its value a year earlier. The monthly increase was the sharpest since July 2012, putting the index at its highest level since December 2014, the Food and Agriculture Organization said.
FAO has further lowered its forecast for global cereal production in 2020, which now stands at 2 742 million tons - still a record high and 1.3% above the previous year's outturn. The new forecasts released today with FAO's Cereal Supply and Demand Brief point to world coarse grains production of 1,470 million tons, wheat production of 761.7 million tons, and rice output of 508.4 million tons.
Two major unions in Argentina's agro-export industry, one of the world's top grains exporters, said that they would launch an indefinite strike starting Tuesday morning, ramping up a standoff that has been simmering for months.
Wheat prices fell after Australia forecast its second-highest crop ever and Russia proposed curtailing grain exports next year. Wheat futures fell as much as 3.3% in Chicago trading, the lowest for the contract in almost eight weeks. Corn and soybeans also fell following rainfall in South America during the weekend.
All 10,500 turkeys will be culled at a farm in North Yorkshire, in England after bird flu was confirmed at the site. The H5N8 strain of avian influenza was found at a turkey fattening premises near Northallerton on Saturday.
A highly contagious and deadly form of avian influenza is spreading rapidly in Europe, putting the poultry industry on alert with previous outbreaks in mind that saw tens of millions of birds culled and significant economic losses.
Brazil's Chamber of Foreign Trade (Camex) has renewed the import quota of 750,000 tons of wheat from outside Mercosur and exempt of the Common External Tariff (TEC) currently at 10%. Purchases can be made from Novr 18 this year to November 17, 2021.
A Chinese company entered the competition to manage a section of the Paraguay-Paraná Waterway, joining four European companies seeking to win the concession to deepen the draft and provide maintenance on approximately 1,238 kilometers of the river course beginning in 2021.
China is starting to curb its appetite for imported pork as it regains its domestic stock and domestic meat prices are beginning to fall. Added to this are consumer concerns about the presence of Covid-19 on food packaging that arrives from other countries.
Dutch authorities have culled some 190,000 chickens after a highly contagious strain of bird flu broke out in at least two poultry farms, the agriculture ministry said on Sunday.