Trade

The USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) indicated in a report this week, “Brazil: Grain and Feed Update,” that, “Brazilian agricultural production is expected to continue growing in 2023, maintaining the trend of producing another record-breaking grain harvest.”

Bloomberg writers Tarso Veloso Ribeiro and Michael Hirtzer reported late last week that, “Global demand for corn will come back to the US in the coming months, according to Archer-Daniels-Midland Co., one of the world’s biggest crop traders.”

The USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) indicated in a report this week, “China: Grain and Feed Update,” that, “Post forecasts MY2022/23 corn imports at 18 MMT, the same as USDA’s official estimate.”

Bloomberg writer Eric Martin reported yesterday that, “Mexico’s proposed changes to a planned ban on imports of US corn are insufficient, the Biden administration warned, saying that it continues to consider all of its rights to respond under the free-trade agreement between the nations.” 

In its monthly Grain: World Markets and Trade report for January, the USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) indicated that, “U.S. sorghum exports for 2022/23 are forecast down 1.5 million tons to 2.5 million (Oct-Sep), the lowest since 2018/19 and the second-lowest volume of the last decade.”

Bloomberg writer Jinglu Gu reported today that, “China is ramping up Covid preparations in rural areas ahead of Lunar New Year holidays that may unleash a surge in infections across some of the country’s poorest regions.” 

Eleanor Olcott and Sun Yu reported yesterday at The Financial Times Online that, “China’s population fell in 2022 for the first time in decades in a historic shift that is expected to have long-term consequences for the domestic and global economies.”

In a report this month from USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS), “Record U.S. FY 2022 Agricultural Exports to China,” Graham Soley indicated that, “U.S. agricultural exports to China in fiscal year (FY) 2022 were $36.4 billion and surpassed the previous year’s record with China as the largest export market for the second consecutive year.”

Earlier this week, Bloomberg News reported that, “China’s population likely started shrinking last year for the first time in decades, experts say, a significant milestone that will have long-term repercussions for the economy.”

Bloomberg News reported yesterday that, “Omicron has swept through China’s major cities including Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, overwhelming hospitals and causing widely-reported, if officially unrecorded, fatalities.”

Late last week, Bloomberg writer Jinglu Gu reported  that, “China has asked farmers to avoid large gatherings and send their Lunar New Year greetings virtually to try and curb the impact of a severe wave of Covid-19 in the countryside.”

Keith Bradsher reported on the front page of Tuesday’s New York Times that, “China’s reversal of its Covid restrictions in early December was meant to help places like Guangzhou [the commercial hub of southern China]. But the chaotic approach has contributed to a tsunami of infections that has swept across the nation, overwhelming hospitals and funeral parlors.”

Edward Wong and Ana Swanson reported on the front page of today’s New York Times that, “Hulking ships carrying Ukrainian wheat and other grains are backed up along the Bosporus here in Istanbul as they await inspections before moving on to ports around the world.”

Chelsey Dulaney reported in Friday’s Wall Street Journal that, “The U.S. dollar’s rally in 2022 gave the world a reminder of the currency’s ability to inflict pain on the global economy. Investors are optimistic that the dollar’s strength has now run its course.”

In a report yesterday from USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS), “U.S. Beef Exports to East Asia on Record Pace,” Ivan Lee indicated that, “U.S. beef exports to East Asia in 2022 are again on record pace after a record year in 2021.”

Earlier this week, Reuters writers Dominique Patton, Roxanne Liu and Bernard Orr reported that, “President Xi Jinping wants China to accelerate efforts to achieve self-reliance in agricultural technology, identifying seed development and core equipment among areas to focus on, state media reported.”

Bloomberg writer Ana Monteiro reported yesterday that, “The US is requesting dispute-settlement consultations for a third time over Canada’s dairy quotas, saying it has found more areas of ‘deep concern’ and that the nation’s measures are inconsistent with its obligations under a North American trade pact.”

Reuters writer Valentine Hilaire reported late last week that, “Mexico and the United States aim to reach an agreement in January over a pending Mexican ban on imports of genetically modified (GM) corn, the Mexican foreign ministry said on Friday after officials from the two countries held talks in Washington.”

Wall Street Journal writers Jason Douglas and Sha Hua reported in Friday’s paper that, “China’s economy took a hit in November in what economists hope will be the last big squeeze on growth from a zero-tolerance strategy toward Covid-19 that Beijing has since abandoned.”