Argentinian cattle slaughterings spiked in October close to 1.2m head, which is over 10% up on the September kill and almost 20% higher than the same month last year. The higher kill saw Argentinian beef production in October surge to 265,000t.

Chinese milk production is forecast to rise 3% next year close to 35bn litres and reduce import demand for certain dairy commodities. The USDA is forecasting that Chinese import demand for SMP will fall by more than 10% next year to 200,000t.

The International Grains Council (IGC) has lowered its estimate for global corn stocks by 5m tonnes to 203m tonnes. This latest estimate is down 32m tonnes on this time last year and is the lowest estimate for global corn stocks since 2013/14.

Soya meal imports to the EU28 increased 10% year on year in September to 1.5m tonnes. However, imports of uncrushed soya beans was down almost 40% year on year at just under 710,000t. Offsetting this, EU imports of rapeseed increased 36% in September to 412,000t.