Storm Goliath tore through Clovis, New Mexico, where Glanbia is involved in cheese manufacture, and Lubbock, Texas last weekend. The storm dumped 22in of snow driven by wind speeds of 100km/h, causing havoc on dairy farms where it left over 40,000 dairy cattle dead and closed down most dairies.

Canada has finally officially opened its market to Argentine beef – following 13 years of negotiations. Argentine beef was banned from Canada in 2001 following an outbreak of foot and mouth disease. The year before, Argentina had shipped 26,000t of beef to Canada.

ADVERTISEMENT

Oil continued its falls, with Brent crude dropping below $35 a barrel for the first time in more than a decade, surpassing lows reached in December as a rise in global production continued. The row between Saudi Arabia and Iran was seen to be making any co-operation between major exporters to cut output even more unlikely.

Following sell-offs on the first day of trading in the new year, China stocks bounced on Wednesday on hopes that regulators will extend a ban on share sales by major stakeholders. Beijing is trying to avert a potential repeat of last summer’s market crash against news of the weakening Chinese economy.