Despite caution for new grain export
contracts between Russia and Turkey, both sides made a
Accordingly two bulk carriers passed through the port of Novorossiysk to Turkey with 33kmt of
wheat and 4.9kmt of corn.
UkrAgroConsult also report that the
abolishment of grain export duties in Argentina will lead to rise in domestic
prices and an increase in grain production with corn plantings already up 10% this
year.
More corn and wheat coming on to the world
market will tighten competition between exporters, challenging Ukraine as a
major exporter and put additional pressure on prices.
Perhaps recognising this (and other related issues) Ukraine continues to drum up markets for its agricultural output, this time meeting with Albania counterparts to discuss cooperation and trade in particular
sunflower oil and dairy products.
Russia ministry of agriculture report this year’s
harvest at 103.4mmt of grain net weight, exceeding previous forecasts.
The ministry further forecast
H16 to be even higher at 104mmt, naturally.
However they do make one
small concession to current winter crop issues by suggesting H16 wheat harvest
could be 60.4mmt, down on this year’s 61.2mmt.
To assist their inexorable climb in output the
ministry might listen to the chairman of the peasant farms of Irkutsk who brilliantly and with clarity outlined how the government should help farmers.
His recommendations included reducing the
cost of energy, fuel, lubricants, fertilisers, pesticides and increasing prices
while providing financing and loans at low interest rates. Good luck with that.
A round table discussion held this week agreed
that the all-Russian agricultural census in 2016 will reveal promising growth
of the domestic agricultural sector and provide material to develop a strategy
to overcome the existing problems in the industry.
Participants included representatives from
the Federal State Statistics Service and the Department of Agribusiness, heads
of municipalities, rural communities, local farms and industry experts.
One participant was reported as saying that "the
issue is not as such of food security, but a problem of management related to
the lack of accurate data on the current situation… the 2016 census should give
us the material to develop strategies to overcome them".
The all-Russian agricultural census will be
held during July and August with remote and inaccessible areas completing it
during September and November.
Finally, Kazakhstan made headlines this week as British
astronaut Tim Peake successfully launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome to the
International Space Station prompting the Telegraph to publish a “19 peculiar
things you probably didn't know about the Central Asian republic” article.
The list started off meaning well with interesting
peculiar things like Kazakhstan is the world’s largest landlocked country yet
maintains a small navy and it is believed that the apple originated there, only
to revert to type saying that Kazakhstan is the birthplace of Sacha Baron Cohen's
fictional character, Borat.
I despair.