Agriculture

• Friday, December 11th 2020 - 08:43 UTC

  Brazilian and Argentine beef exports to China suspended after Covid-19 in packaging

  

  Two beef producers from Brazil and one from Argentina have had their exports to China suspended for one week after packaging of their products tested positive for traces of COVID-19, customs said. China's General Administration of Customs (GAC) made the announcement.

• Friday, December 11th 2020 - 08:40 UTC

  Brazil lowers corn production forecast because of dry weather in the south

  

  Brazil's corn production forecast for 2020-21 has been cut to 102.6 million mt from 104.9 million mt projected in November, Brazil's national agricultural agency, Companhia Nacional de Abastecimento (Conab), said in its latest forecast.

• Friday, December 11th 2020 - 08:00 UTC

  Brazil confident of its chicken and pork production in 2021, despite grain costs

  

  Brazil's meat producers increased output for world markets this year and will again boost production next year, even though they face continued challenges because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the country's meat lobby ABPA said.

• Thursday, December 10th 2020 - 09:09 UTC

  Argentine oilseed and grains exports stalled with new wage strike

  

  Argentine grains inspectors and oilseeds workers started a new wage strike on Wednesday, organizers said in a joint statement, as stalling contract negotiations threatened to interrupt exports from one of the world's main bread baskets.

• Wednesday, December 9th 2020 - 08:20 UTC

  Brazil imported 748,000 tons of soybeans in eleven months of 2020

  

  Brazil soybean imports during November reached 122,000 tons, 20 times more than in November 2019 (6,000 tons). Purchases cost US$ 49.2 million, compared to the US$ 1.9 million spent a year earlier, as the average value of the ton purchased increased from US $328.8 to US$ 402.4, according to the Brazilian Foreign Trade Secretariat, SECEX.

• Wednesday, December 9th 2020 - 08:00 UTC

  Biden plans to nominate ex Iowa governor Vilsack as next agriculture secretary

  

  United States president-elect Joe Biden plans to nominate former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack for agriculture secretary, Axios reported on Tuesday. Vilsack, who led the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) under former President Barack Obama, could not immediately be reached. His spokeswoman, Regina Black, declined to comment “as an official announcement hasn't been made.”

• Monday, December 7th 2020 - 08:59 UTC

  Brazil has sold in advance 56,5% of its 2020/21 soybeans crop

  

  Brazilian farmers have sold 56.5% of their beans in advance through December 4, Safras & Mercado, an agribusiness consultancy, said in a statement last Friday. Considering Brazil is poised to collect 133.517 million tons of the oilseeds this season, the volume of pre-sold soy amounts to an estimated 75.403 million tons, Safras said.

• Friday, December 4th 2020 - 08:00 UTC

  Food commodity prices rose sharply in November to their highest in six years

  

  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.

• Friday, December 4th 2020 - 07:36 UTC

  FAO trims world 2020 cereal output forecast

  

  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.

• Wednesday, December 2nd 2020 - 08:53 UTC

  Argentine agro-export industry workers on strike freezing shipments

  

  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.