Dutch milk production for the first month of 2018 stood at just under 1.2bn litres. This is just 0.2% higher than the same month last year. Milk prices in the Netherlands are still high enough to encourage farmers to produce, meaning strong milk supplies are forecast for the spring.

While export prices for Brazilian beef fell in February, the country has enjoyed a strong start to 2018 in volume terms. Export figures for February show Brazil exported 98,100t of fresh beef, which is up almost 25% year on year.

Russian grain exporters this week sold 120,000t of wheat to Egypt, the world’s largest buyer. At $214/t (excluding freight), this is the highest selling price for Russian wheat in three years. Egypt has bought almost 6m tonnes of wheat this season, over 80% of which is sourced from Russia.

China’s government is targeting economic growth (GDP) of around 6.5% for 2018, which would be in line with 2017 growth rates. The world’s second-largest economy is also targeting a reduction of its national debt in 2018.

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