German grain production for this season is likely to be at its lowest level in a quarter of a century. Estimates from the German farmers association has pegged the total grain harvest in Germany at 35.6m tonnes for 2018 – down 22% on last year and the smallest harvest since 1993.

Exporters in Paraguay shipped almost 24,000t of fresh beef for the month of July, which was back 7% on the volumes shipped for the same month last year. In the first seven months of 2018 (Jan-Jul), beef exports from Paraguay stood at 153,000t – down more than 5% year on year.

The number of cattle in US feedlots for finishing stood at 11.1m head in early August. This is the highest number of cattle in US feedlots in August in over 20 years and is driven by the hot summer conditions also being experienced in North America.

For the first seven months of 2018 (Jan-Jul), Australian beef exports to China were just under 89,000t, which is almost 50% ahead of last year. At this rate, Australia is on course to break its previous record for beef exports to China in 2015, which almost hit 150,000t.