MarketsFarm — As fears of a worldwide pandemic of the COVID-19 coronavirus increase, markets, including the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), are seen to have been taking a beating. “The perception is, it’s going to get worse, that trade is going to struggle,” said Steve Georgy, president of Allendale Inc. at Fort McHenry, Ill., analogizing […] Read more
CBOT weekly outlook: Coronavirus, other factors grip markets
Drones to be tested against Africa’s locust swarms
U.N.'s FAO testing drones to detect, spray pests
Nairobi | Thomson Reuters Foundation — The United Nations is to test drones equipped with mapping sensors and atomizers to spray pesticides in parts of east Africa battling an invasion of desert locusts that are ravaging crops and exacerbating a hunger crisis. Hundreds of millions of the voracious insects have swept across Ethiopia, Somalia and […] Read more
U.S. farmers cheered by apparent trade truce
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. farmers cheered the Trump administration’s announcement of a potentially dramatic increase in U.S. agricultural sales to China on Friday but warned they needed to see a follow-through of actual purchases. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the agricultural purchases could scale up to $40 billion-$50 billion annually as part of a […] Read more
China’s July grain imports plunge as tariffs on U.S. supplies bite
Beijing | Reuters – China’s grain imports plunged in July after Beijing imposed hefty tariffs on shipments from the United States as part of its trade conflict and as rising international prices curbed buying, customs data showed on Thursday. China brought in 220,000 tonnes of sorghum in July, down 62.5 percent from 588,364 tonnes a year ago, data from […] Read more
U.S. grains: Corn, soy sag on renewed U.S.-China trade tension
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. corn futures fell about 1.5 per cent on Tuesday, with the front contract at times dropping below US$4 a bushel as U.S. trade tensions with China re-emerged, analysts said. Wheat turned lower after climbing to multi-month highs, and soybeans also slipped. Chicago Board of Trade July corn settled down six […] Read more
U.S. grains: Wheat futures jump
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. wheat futures rallied on Friday, with the benchmark Chicago Board of Trade soft red winter wheat contract surging 4.1 per cent on forecasts for dry conditions that could further stress an already damaged crop. The weather outlook also threatened to slow planting progress in the U.S. Midwest, which was supportive […] Read more
China retreats from U.S. sorghum probe amid global market havoc
Beijing | Reuters — China dropped its anti-dumping probe into imports of U.S. sorghum on Friday, beating a hasty retreat from a dispute that wreaked chaos across the global grain market and raised concerns about rising costs and financial damage at home. The move was seen as a goodwill concession as Chinese Vice-Premier Liu He […] Read more
U.S. ethanol makers snap up cheap sorghum after China tariffs
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. ethanol makers have joined global livestock producers to snap up discounted American sorghum supplies after buyers in China backed out of deals due to stiff anti-dumping tariffs on the grain imposed by Beijing in a mounting trade dispute. Sorghum is used to feed animals and represents a fraction of the […] Read more
U.S.-China trade fears halt soybean imports
Singapore/Beijing | Reuters — China’s purchases of U.S. soybeans have come to a grinding halt, trade and industry sources say, as fears of further action by Beijing to curb imports of U.S. crops following last week’s anti-dumping move on sorghum rattles the agriculture industry. Buyers from China, which takes 60 per cent of soybeans traded […] Read more
U.S. grains: Wheat rallies to one-week top, pulls corn higher
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. wheat futures rose on Wednesday, with the benchmark Chicago Board of Trade soft red winter wheat contract gaining 1.9 per cent and hitting a one-week high on concerns that rains forecast for the U.S. Plains will not meet earlier expectations. “The forecast for the rain in the southern Plains has […] Read more
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