EU’s July 1- Sep 8 Up 27% on Year, Algeria Back as Top Importer
S&P Global– 09/10/2019
Wheat exports from the European Union reached 4.6 million mt in the new marketing year period of July 1-September 8, up 27% from a year earlier, the EU Crops Market Observatory data showed. The EU 2019-2020 marketing year began on July 1 and will end on June 30, 2020. However, the pace of weekly exports slowed down in the week to September 8, with total wheat shipments reaching 202,492 mt, compared with 727,270 mt shipped a week earlier, according to the data released Monday. Romania continued to be the bloc’s top exporter, with wheat shipments hitting 1.5 million mt in the marketing year-to-date period. France, which is the agriculture powerhouse of the EU, and is expected to account for 41% of total EU wheat exports in 2019-20 marketing year, has been trailing Romania since the new marketing season began in July.
China Ag Embargo Affecting Northwest Wheat Growers
Spokane Public Radio – 09/09/2019
Northwest wheat growers are in the midst of their fall harvest, but the embargo on U.S. agricultural products by China is playing a role in the price and how farmers will sell their product this year. Prices are currently not as high as many growers would hope for. Officials with the Washington Association of Wheat Growers say the break-even price is about $6.50 per bushel. On Friday, the average price was 5 dollars a bushel. One factor that is playing a role in pricing to some extent and the market overall is the recent embargo by China of all U.S. agricultural products. Michelle Hennings of the Washington Association of Wheat Growers says in the 2017-18 year, China was the fifth largest buyer of Washington state wheat. But leading up to this year’s embargo, the Chinese stopped buying. She says the overall effect for many farmers is their harvested wheat will sit in elevators unsold until a new buyer can be found.
Brazil, Mexico Begin Trade Talks Amid Bolsonaro Push for Export Deals
Reuters – 09/09/2019
Brazil and Mexico have begun talks on a free trade deal, officials said on Monday, seeking to deepen commercial ties between the two largest economies in Latin America as trade tensions threaten to undermine global growth. Marcos Troyjo, Brazil’s deputy economy minister for foreign trade, said Brazil had formally started free trade talks with Mexico, which in June ratified a trade pact with the United States and Canada to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Troyjo said that Mexico had traditionally focused on trading with its NAFTA partners but wanted to diversify. He believed Brazil would be able to export more agricultural products to Mexico, Latin America’s No. 2 economy. Mexico’s economy ministry confirmed there had been talks. “We have had conversations to see how we can advance toward a liberalization, but we still haven’t defined the path to take,” the ministry said in a statement. “But we’re working on it.”
North Dakota: Rainy Conditions Impacting Wheat Harvest
KYFRTV.com – 09/09/2019
These rainy and cool days are not good for farmers waiting to harvest. The numbers for wheat are way behind both the five year average and where farmers were at this time last year, and it doesn’t look like they’ll catch up anytime soon. Some fields are done. But, the USDA reports spring wheat is only 68 percent harvested, compared to 93 percent last year. Durum wheat is at 46 percent, behind the 85 percent from 2018. Jim Peterson with the Wheat Commission says the consistent, heavy rains are stopping producers from getting into the fields. “It’s not the first time we’ve dealt with a wet harvest, but I think just the length of it and probably the broadness of the area is somewhat rare,” Peterson said. Peterson says the rain can also impact the quality of the wheat, leading to issues like pre-harvest sprouting. He says the issue is widespread across the state, that there isn’t one area that has been impacted the most.
Closure of Bonneville Lock Brings River Traffic to Halt
The Columbian – 09/09/2019
The unexpected closure of the Bonneville Lock over the weekend has had an immediate effect on water traffic up and down the Columbia River, including traffic to and from Vancouver. “This is a serious issue for ourselves and the entire region,” said August Bassanini, CEO of grain export company United Grain, which operates at the Port of Vancouver…The closure of the westernmost lock puts a stop to nearly all of that traffic, and the disruption comes during the harvest season on a river system that carries more than 50 percent of all U.S. wheat exports. “This would normally be a very busy time, especially for wheat transportation,” said Kristin Meira, executive director of the Pacific Northwest Waterways Association. “In the short term, folks can hold their products, but this is meant to be a system that’s always moving.”
Source: U.S. Wheat Associates