Brazil’s corn production to dip slightly
Corn production for Brazil in marketing year 2025-26 is expected to decline by 2% from the previous year due to lower yields, though higher carryover from a strong 2024-25 harvest will support increased exports, according to a report from the Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) of the US Department of Agriculture. The FAS revised its corn...
Focus on Argentina
Argentina is preparing for a bumper wheat crop, matching the record set in 2021-22, but prices are lagging and the government is trying to stabilize the nation’s economy, which is in a currency crisis, with help from the United States. Wheat production in 2025-26 is estimated at 23 million tonnes, thanks to unprecedented rainfall that...
IGC: Grains production outlook rises again
Better-than-anticipated wheat and barley yields have boosted the forecast for total grains (wheat and coarse grains) production in the 2025-26 marketing year, according to the International Grain Council’s (IGC) most recent Grain Market Report. The monthly report, released on Oct. 23, projected a 13-million-tonne increase from the September forecast to a record 2.425 billion tonnes....
Brazil’s grains production in record territory
Greater planted area and a recovery in productivity have Brazil poised to harvest 325.7 million tonnes of grains for the 2024-25 season, according to the National Supply Company’s (Conab’s) recently released forecast. The current estimates would be 9.4% greater than the previous season. The latest producer survey reflects a 2.1% increase in the cultivated area,...
Heat, dryness expected in Brazil
Most of the commodity trade fear of La Niña negatively influencing South America has passed. Weather conditions since the end of October have been mostly very good in Brazil and Argentina and the market mentality has been more bearish than bullish over futures prices; however, changing weather this month is likely to bring a little...
Biofuels preparing to take flight
After soaring in the early 2000s only to see more modest growth in recent years, the biofuels industry might be on the verge of flying high again … about 35,000 feet high to be exact. A push by “green” energy proponents for a more environmentally friendly airline fuel has led to the development of sustainable...
Brazil’s grain production dips in 2023-24
Grain production in Brazil is estimated at 298.41 million tonnes for the 2023-24 marketing year, a drop of 21.4 million tonnes compared to the previous year, according to Conab, the country’s food supply and statistics agency. This would still be the second largest crop in the survey’s history. In its 12th Grain Harvest Survey for 2023-24...
Dryness stressing Ukraine, Russia crops
As if the Russia/Ukraine war was not enough to deal with, the region has been enduring a very dry summer. Crop stress in the region is peaking for the third time this growing season with very warm to hot temperatures and limited rain. Soil moisture has never been much more than marginally adequate since spring. Recently, the...
Corn futures dip to four-year lows
The bulls seem to have abandoned corn futures and are giving few indications they expect to return anytime soon. On Monday, Aug. 26, the CME Group September and December contracts sank to their lowest levels since October 2020, with the spot month down 23% from a year ago and the contract falling 26% since the...
Be8 breaks ground on ethanol plant
Be8, a Brazilian renewable energy company, said it has agreed with Praj, an Indian company and global leader in bio-energy, to establish its first ethanol plant in Passo Fundo, Rio Grande do Sul. The plant, which will convert wheat into ethanol, will be the first large-scale refinery in Rio Grande do Sul to produce biofuel...