Argentinian Wheat Set to Make Deeper Inroads into Southeast Asia
S&P Global – 07/22/2019
Weather woes and tight supply from Australia this year have given an opportunity to the South American nation to boost its share in markets like Indonesia and Thailand. This trend is likely to continue as millers in the region are getting increasingly used to that variety of wheat. “I do believe that Australia’s exports slowdown (due to adverse weather) matched with a bigger production here made it possible for [Argentina] to increase its market share in countries as far as Southeast Asia,” Emilce Terre, chief economist at Argentina’s Rosario Board of Trade (BCR), told S&P Global Platts. During Argentina’s peak export period between December 2018 and March, its wheat was priced at an average of $232.75/mt, 15% cheaper than Australian Premium White wheat, and 1%cheaper than Black Sea-origin wheat, according to International Grains Council and Platts data. “[It] is likely for [Southeast Asian] mills to continue to buy Argentine wheat as its price is more competitive to Australian [wheat] due to its lower quality, and the region is facing a higher demand for wheat by-products,” Desire Sigaudo, analyst at BCR, told Platts.
US-China Talks Could See Face- to Face Negotiations
Agri-Pulse – 07/22/2019
he telephone talks between U.S. and Chinese trade negotiators went well last week, potentially leading to an in-person meeting next week and an increase in Chinese imports of U.S. soybeans, according to Chinese and U.S. sources. President Donald Trump, speaking Friday about the call between U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and their Chinese counterparts, said: “They had a very good talk. We’ll see what happens.” Mnuchin had said earlier that if the call last week went well, it could lead to an in-person meeting and Chinese officials are suggesting that’s likely. “Briefing of the Chinese side on phone talks between Chinese and US trade officials shows face-to-face consultation will not be far away,” Hu Xijin, head of the Chinese state-run Global Times, said in a tweet. “I think we can expect that some actions may happen, which would be seen as goodwill from each other.” That good will, on the Chinese side, may come in the form of more imports of U.S. soybeans, he said: “Based on what I know, Chinese importers have started arrangement of purchasing U.S. agricultural products.”
Washington: Farmers Rally in Pasco to Support Trade Deal. Many Hope to Rebuild After Retaliatory Tariffs
Tri-City Herald – 07/22/2019
U.S. Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Sunnyside, joined farmers and their supporters in Pasco on Monday to encourage Congress to ratify the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, aka the new NAFTA.
President Donald Trump, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and then-Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto signed the deal last fall providing for mostly tariff-free trade. Mexico has ratified the deal, known informally as USMCA. It has been introduced in Canada but no vote has been scheduled in the U.S. House…Monday’s rally in Pasco comes against a backdrop of concern that if the U.S. fails to ratify the deal, it could take years to strike a new one to the detriment of farmers who rely on foreign markets to sell the apples, potatoes, cherries, wheat, hops and other crops grown here. “We have a lot of trade battles going on,” said Damon Filan, manager of Tri-Cities Grain, whose operation at the confluence of the Snake and Columbia rivers provided a picturesque backdrop for the gathering. A barge terminal and trains loaded with ag products provided useful optics that drove home the importance of ag to the Mid-Columbia.
Day 16, Final Kansas Wheat Harvest Report
Kansas Wheat Commission – 07/23/2019
Wheat harvest has essentially wrapped up in Kansas with last week’s hot dry weather. According to the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service, Kansas winter wheat harvest is 96 percent complete, near 100 last year and 98 for the five-year average. Erik Lange, Senior Vice President and chief operating officer, MKC, says their more than 40 locations across Kansas have taken in about two-thirds of their 5-year average on bushels, due to reduced acres because of the wet conditions last fall. MKC is located in 24 counties across Kansas, from Seward County in the southwest to Sumner County in south central to Pottawatomie County in the north east. Lange reported that overall, harvest was about 2 to 2 1/2 weeks later than normal statewide but a little less delayed in the west. He said yields varied widely across the state. In south central counties, yields were below average, and in central counties, yields were quite a bit lower than normal, due to rain. Further to the north and east, there were good yields in areas, but not in the low lying areas. He said that in southwest Kansas, this year’s harvest was some of the best wheat in years.
Wheat Congress Brings Together Researchers from Around Globe
The Star Phoenix – 07/22/2019
Around 900 people from more than 50 countries are gathered in Saskatoon this week for what is believed to be the largest gathering of wheat researchers ever held. Scientists and policy-makers are together at the International Wheat Congress, running through Friday at TCU Place, putting their collective minds towards the future of wheat in helping avert by 2050 what event organizers say is a global food security crisis. In Monday’s opening session, Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe noted how the marquis wheat variety developed by Charles Saunders more than a century ago was a “game changer for farmers across the great plains in that day.” Moe outlined Saskatchewan’s current agricultural production, saying producers couldn’t do it without the support of the research community. That support is needed for food security, he added. In 1968, Moe said, the food supply in 34 of 152 countries surveyed had less than 2,000 calories available per person per day. By 2013, just two out of 173 countries surveyed had a food supply of less than 2,000 calories per person per day. “Famine is not gone but it has virtually disappeared while the world’s population over that period of time has doubled,” Moe said…It’s important to maintain the predictability of the wheat supply, she said, tackling diseases and ensuring wheat has the processing characteristics required in markets around the globe.
Source: U.S. Wheat Associates