US beef and veal exports grew at double-digit pace for February, rising 11% year on year to reach close to 100,600t. This brings US beef and veal exports for the first two months of 2018 to a little over 206,000t, which is up 10% on last year.

Australian beef exports for the first quarter of 2018 (January-March) stood at 237,700t, according to the Australian department of agriculture. This represents a 10% increase on the same period last year. Japan accounts for almost a third (28%) of Australian beef exports.

After a fall in January milk collections, UK milk production rebounded in February with milk collections rising 1.2% year on year to 1.13bn litres. This brings milk collections for the first two months of 2018 to a cumulative 2.3bn litres, which is marginally down (-0.3%) on last year.

In its latest World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimate (WASDE) report, the US Department of Agriculture has forecast that maize production in Brazil and Argentina will fall by a combined 15m tonnes this season.