Russia – forecast for 2019 wheat harvest lowered

SovEcon, the Moscow-based grain analyst, has lowered its forecast for Russian wheat production this season to 76.6m tonnes. This is down from the previous estimate of 80m tonnes. SovEcon also lowered its forecast for Russian wheat exports by almost 5m tonnes to 33m tonnes.

US – crop conditions under pressure

Last week’s update by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) reported 57% of the US corn (maize) crop to be in good/excellent condition. This is significantly behind the same week last year when 75% of the US corn crop was reported as good/excellent.

China – beef imports soar in May

China imported 131,500t of beef for the month of May, which is a massive 44% ahead of the volume imported in May 2018. Uruguay was the biggest exporter to China in May, supplying more than 20% of the total volume. Brazil, Argentina, Australia and New Zealand were also major suppliers.

Uruguay – live exports fall sharply

Live exports of cattle from Uruguay fell sharply in the 12 months from July 2018 to June 2019. Data from Uruguay’s ministry for agriculture shows live exports for the 12-month period stood at 260,800 head, which is down 42% on the previous year. Over 95% of these cattle were shipped to Turkey.