There was both good and bad news for France in this week’s annual report on the outlook of the wine industry by the International Organization of Wine and Vine (OIV).
China's central bank is to cut its bank reserve requirement ratio by one percentage point. The People's Bank of China said that the new reserve requirement would take effect from Monday. The aim is to stimulate more lending into the nation's slowing economy.
Mercosur must exhaust efforts with determination to advance in trade negotiations with the European Union, said Uruguay's Deputy foreign minister Jose Luis Cancela confirming the country's commitment with the block, but also demanding 'sincerity' in addressing the challenges and agreeing on an international insertion strategy.
Brazil raised estimates for both its corn and soybean harvests, citing rains which had come in time to boost yields of later planted crops, besides boosting expectations for safrinha corn. The official Conab crop bureau lifted by 1.0m tons to 94.3m tons its estimate for Brazil's soybean production in 2014-15, as late rainfall helped results surprise positively in particular in central areas.
Brazil’s soy exports will likely slow because a six-day fire at a nearby fuel-storage facility has restricted access to Brazil’s largest port, Santos, a port official and the soy industry association Abiove said. Authorities have agreed to restrict truck access to some terminals at the port at least through Wednesday while flames are extinguished.
The FAO Food Price Index continued to decline in March, dropping 1.5 percent from February and 18.7 percent (40 points) below its level a year earlier.
Argentine farmers have stockpiled more than twice as many soybeans this year than in 2014 defying a government desperate to increase export tax revenue needed to finance rising state spending ahead of the October presidential election.
World soybean production will fall next season for the first time in four years, undermined by a drop in US output, although the fall may not prove sufficient to support prices, Oil World said. However in South America, Argentina and Paraguay could be heading for new record crops.
Spanish construction company Sacyr joined Uruguay's Grinor in a consortium bidding for a contract to recover and maintain highways in the Mercosur member country.
The United Kingdom is the main import trading partner of the Falkland Islands with 87% of all imported goods coming from the UK in 2012 (Customs and Immigration 2013) with the rest imported mostly from Chile and Uruguay, according to the latest report on the Falklands' State of the Economy.