Australia – sheep meat production declines in 2016

Australia’s meat and livestock industry body MLA has said it expects the country’s sheep production for 2016 to be in the region of 670,000t, which would represent a 6% decline compared with last year. The decline, which is sharper than previously forecast, is attributed to delays in lamb processing in the final months of the year.

Brazil – wheat imports to hit almost 6m tonnes

Brazilian agriculture officials have raised their expectations for wheat imports to the country for 2016 after strong buying in December by the country’s grain importers. Conab, the Brazilian crop supply agency, has sharply raised its forecast for Brazilian wheat imports for 2016 to 5.95m tonnes, which is an 8% increase in imports year-on-year.

Netherlands – Dutch pork exports decline in first nine months of 2016

Dutch pork exports for the first nine months of 2016 stood at 610,000t, a 6% decline compared with 2015. A threefold increase in pork shipments to China in the period was more than offset by a massive 21% decline in pork shipments to other EU countries, with the Italian, German and Greek markets performing poorly.

USA – dairy exports increase in second half of 2016

US dairy exports performed strongly in the second half of 2016, despite the weakness in global markets. Figures from the US dairy export council show that exports of non-fat dry milk and skimmed milk powder increased a combined 68% in the last five months of 2016. Exports of whey to China also showed strong growth (+25%).