Heavy rain dampens Bangladesh rice production
Heavy rain has impeded Bangladesh’s rice production for the 2020-21 marketing year, according to the Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). Heavy rains and flooding in June and July 2020 led to a 15 percent rice crop loss, increasing rice prices in the second half of 2020. The USDA forecasts Bangladesh’s rice production to total 34.8 million tonnes in the 2020-21 marketing year, a 2.93 percent decrease compared to the previous year. Rice imports are expected to be 600,000 tonnes to replenish the country’s publicly held rice stocks and reduce domestic rice prices. Wheat production for the 2020-21 marketing year is buoyed slightly to 1.22 million tonnes due to improved farming techniques and use of high yielding wheat varieties. The USDA estimate for Bangladesh’s wheat imports for the 2020-21 marketing year remains unchanged at 6.6 million tonnes. Wheat imports are a bit slower with the July 2020 to January 2021 imports totaled 2.99 million tonnes, 30 percent lower than the 4.2 million tonnes imported in the same period of the 2019-20 marketing year. The USDA attributed the slowdown to high wheat prices, increased freight cost lowered demand in the food processing industry and continued COVID-19 restrictions.
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USDA grant seeks to enhance milk production and cow health
An animal scientist studying relationships between insulin and milk production in dairy cows has received a three-year, $500,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture. Joseph McFadden, associate professor of dairy cattle biology in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, will use the funds to identify mechanisms that control insulin resistance in lactating cows. Under normal circumstances, insulin resistance in cows is an adaptation that helps channel glucose and other key nutrients towards making milk in early lactation. Unfortunately, insulin resistance may become uncontrolled postpartum, leading to the breakdown of fats and metabolic disease. The grant will look specifically at the role of ceramide, a sphingolipid formed by saturated fatty acids, which has been associated with the development of Type 2 Diabetes in non-ruminants. With the grant, McFadden will investigate possible roles that ceramide plays in cows.
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OPEC+ considers keeping oil cuts unchanged through April
The OPEC+ group is considering keeping their collective oil production cuts in April, given the still-fragile global demand recovery, three OPEC+ sources told Reuters on Wednesday.
OPEC and its non-OPEC allies led by Russia are keeping around 7 million barrels per day (bpd) off the market to help the market rebalance and prop up prices after the pandemic shock to demand. OPEC’s top producer and the world’s top exporter, Saudi Arabia, is also additionally cutting 1 million bpd in February and March on top of its quota.
The market has been expecting some sort of production increase from the OPEC+ alliance in April, especially in light of the recent oil price rally.
According to Reuters’ sources, however, some key members of OPEC have proposed keeping the current level of OPEC+ cuts intact in April, while it is not immediately clear if Saudi Arabia would reverse its extra 1 million bpd cut from April.
Following the Reuters report that OPEC+ may not increase production from April after all, contrary to most expectations, oil prices rallied by 2 percent early on Wednesday.
At the Joint Technical Committee (JTC) meeting on Tuesday, OPEC Secretary General Mohammad Barkindo said that the global economic outlook and oil market prospects showed signs of continued improvement. Still, given continued uncertainties, Barkindo emphasized the need for “cautious optimism.”
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Annual U.S. natural gas production decreased by 1pc in 2020
U.S. natural gas production—as measured by gross withdrawals—averaged 111.2 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) in 2020, down 0.9 billion Bcf/d from 2019 as result of a decline in drilling activity related to low natural gas and oil prices in 2020.
The 2019 record-high increase in natural gas production led to higher volumes of natural gas in storage and lower natural gas prices. Beginning in March 2020, warmer-than-average weather along with the effects of the responses to COVID-19 drove down natural gas demand and further reduced prices. The lowest average monthly U.S. natural gas production volume was in May 2020 at 106.4 Bcf/d. By December 2020, natural gas production had increased to 113.0 Bcf/d.
The Appalachia region remains the largest natural-gas producing region in the United States. Natural gas production from the Marcellus and Utica/Point Pleasant shales of Ohio, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania continued to grow despite low regional natural gas spot prices. Natural gas production from these three states increased from 32.1 Bcf/d in 2019 to 33.6 Bcf/d in 2020. Within the Appalachia region, West Virginia had the largest increase in natural gas production, increasing by 1.2 Bcf/d, or 20 percent, to reach 7.1 Bcf/d. Natural gas production increased by 1.0 Bcf/d in Pennsylvania and decreased by 0.7 Bcf/d in Ohio.
In 2020, Oklahoma had the largest decrease in natural gas production, falling by 1.1 Bcf/d, or 13 percent, to an annual average of 7.6 Bcf/d. Texas remained the largest natural-gas producing state, although natural gas production in the state decreased from 28.4 Bcf/d in 2019 to 28.1 Bcf/d in 2020.