Egypt – wheat imports reach 3.3m tonnes

Egypt, the world’s largest wheat importer, bought a further 180,000t of Russian wheat this week at a price of $213/t. This brings Egyptian wheat imports for its 2017/18 buying year to 3.3m tonnes. Egypt typically imports up to 12m tonnes of wheat every year.

USA – rain delays winter wheat sowings

Rains sweeping across the US wheat belt have slowed plantings of next season’s winter wheat crop. According to the USDA, just 36% of winter wheat has been sown, which is well behind schedule. US farmers planted 33m acres in winter wheat last season – the lowest acreage since 1919.

Brazil – beef exports top 100,000t for fourth consecutive month

Brazilian beef exports for September soared more than 20% year-on-year to just under 112,000t. This is the fourth consecutive month that Brazilian beef exports topped 100,000t. This brings Brazilian beef exports for the first nine months of 2017 to 867,000t.

China – butter imports double in September

Chinese dairy importers snapped up more than 15,000t of butter in August, which was more than double the same period last year. The leading suppliers of butter were New Zealand, French and Belgian exporters.