In Spain, GRAIN has called out the EU-Mercosur deal saying it with further augment the global climate crisis, specifically pointing to six crops included in the deal, such as Brazilian sugarcane ethanol. The report says the EU’s increased ethanol imports through the FTA are expected to be used to meet Europe’s “green” transport fuel targets. […]
In Washington, D.C., leaders of the United States and Japan, one of the largest U.S. grain customers and second largest buyer of U.S. corn after Mexico, announced that the two countries would pursue trade talks. The impact on agriculture is to be determined in the talks. The country is also a strong purchaser of sorghum, […]
In Germany, UFOP reports that trade agreements are exacerbating pressure on prices for grain and rapeseed and that the development of prices for food and feed uses lags behind that of prices for the “fuel value” of these feedstocks. Brent crude oil recently hit the level of 74 US dollar per barrel. This price is […]
In Argentina, grains workers started a 48-hour strike in the city of Rosario, Argentina’s busiest port where 80% of Argentina’s agricultural exports are sent from on cargo ships headed to the shipping highways and byways of the South Atlantic. As the largest exporter of soymeal livestock feed and major supplier of corn and raw soybeans, […]
In Washington, a new report concluded that U.S. feed grain and grain products exports were worth $18.9 billion in 2015 and supported $55.5 billion in economic output. These exports were linked directly or indirectly to nearly 262,000 jobs. Results showed every $1 of grain exports generated supported an additional $2.19 in business sales. And every […]
In Germany, UFOP is reporting that rapeseed prices are the only prices that have surpassed 2015 levels, noting in particular that cereals and corn prices have seen a short dip. In April, Rapeseed prices shot up to the highest levels since 2015; April 2016 bids for rapeseed were on average EUR 349 per tonne ex […]
In Nebraska, the case of Lansing Trade Group v. Mid-America Bio Energy Commodities of Nebraska has opened in Lincoln County District Court where the traders say Mid-America owes them $22 million from 2008/09 when corn prices soared to $8 a bushel and then fell to $4 a bushel. Mid-America owns two ethanol plants in Madrid […]
In Italy, oil prices, not ethanol, were the main drivers of grain prices in a new study from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). While ethanol moves in line with oil in the long term, the relationship between ethanol and oil prices between 1980 and 2012 has been nonlinear in the short term. The […]
In Illinois, corn and grain futures at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange reached multi-week highs as poor weather in Argentina and Brazil is expected to create crop shortages in South American countries. This hope for a boost in the overseas demand drove the corn futures to 6.4712 a bushel, a 4.17% increase since last week and […]
In the UK, cereals certified under the Assured Food Standards program will qualify for use as biofuel feedstocks under the European Union’s Renewable Energy Directive—following successful negotiations with the European Commission. All farmers have to prove is that the land where the cereals are grown did not have high biodiversity value or high carbon stocks […]
