Finland’s department of agriculture has estimated that any outbreak of African swine fever (ASF) among its pig farms could lead to losses in excess of €10m. There have been outbreaks of ASF in a number of eastern European states, which has led Finnish authorities to ban meat and grain imports from Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Russia.

The USDA’s Beijing bureau is forecasting an increase of 50,000t in Chinese imports of milk powder for 2016 to a total 400,000t. While China remains the world’s largest dairy importer, the forecasted increase in milk powder imports is still well below the peaks seen in 2013 and 2014 that were in excess of 600,000t per annum.

Despite cutting its profit outlook for 2015 due to economic weakness in emerging markets and currency headwinds, the German seed producer KWS has restated its intention to expand in Brazil. The world’s fourth-largest seed producer said it will invest in R&D and capital expenditure as it seeks to gain a dominant position in Brazil.

Futures prices for whole milk powder (WMP) on the NZX derivatives market in New Zealand suggest a rise in the GDT index at next week’s auction. WMP futures gained by more than 13% at the end of last week to finish $2,375/t, with strong volumes traded on the futures exchange.