CS Brazil H2 April sugar production expected to drop 50pc on year
Sugar production in the key Center-South Brazil region is expected to total 769,400 mt in the second half of April, a decrease of 49.5 percent year on year, an S&P Global Commodity Insights survey of 10 analysts showed May 9.
“Expectations are running high that the cane crush should be the lowest since 2012 for the fortnight,” according to S&P Global.
Of the 10 analysts surveyed, two large trading houses estimated the total cane crush would be between 20.0 million mt and 25.0 million mt. The average estimate was for a total cane crush of 21.26 million mt, a 28.3 percent drop year on year.
The proportion of cane used for sugar production is expected to be 33.6 percent, down from 44.5 percent a year earlier. Brazilian producers were expected to take advantage of the recent high price of ethanol during the early stages of the harvest, but long-term expectations are for mills to maximize their sugar production during the second half of the harvest.
Recoverable sugar per ton of sugarcane, or ATR, is expected to be 112.8 kg/mt, a decrease of 6.9 percent year on year.
Platts assessed hydrous ethanol ex-mill Ribeirao Preto converted into raw sugar equivalent was at 19.13 cents/lb on May 9. The July NY11 sugar futures contract settled May 9 at 18.66 cents/lb, a 0.47 cents/lb discount to the hydrous ethanol price expressed in raw sugar equivalent.
Total ethanol output from sugarcane and corn is expected to be 1,071 million liters, a decrease of 17.6 percent year on year.
Hydrous ethanol output was expected to be 867 million liters, according to the average of the analysts’ responses to the survey. This would be a decrease of 9.6 percent year on year. Anhydrous ethanol output in H2 April was expected to be 223 million liters, a decrease of 34.5 percent year on year, according to the survey.
XAG promotes drones in Vietnam to boost rice farming
As the monsoon season starts with ample rainfalls, XAG is actively scaling up the use of its agricultural drones in Vietnam to make rice production more sustainable. Faced with the soaring prices of agricultural inputs, Vietnamese farmers can now employ drones from XAG to grow more rice using fewer resources. From direct seeding, pesticide spraying to fertilizer application, XAG’s agricultural drones have seen its increasing popularity among rural youth who are keen to earn a decent salary as drone pilot.
Vietnam is the world’s second largest exporter of rice, which is also the staple food consumed by 90 percent of the total population and the main source of income for millions of small-scale farmers. More than 50 percent of the country’s rice is cultivated in the Mekong Delta region, known as the ‘rice bowl’ of Vietnam that produces three crops per year. However, the surge in fertilizer and pesticide prices, as a result of global supply chain disruption, has urged Vietnamese farmers to cut back crop nutrients and chemical essential to boosting rice yields.
China urges crack down on illegal destruction of wheat crop
China’s provincial authorities have been asked to investigate suspected illegal destruction of wheat fields for construction projects, and cases of the current crop being diverted into silage, the agriculture ministry said on Tuesday.
China expects a good winter wheat harvest this year, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said in a statement posted on its website, having spent 5 billion yuan stabilising the crop after heavy autumn rains had delayed planting in many regions and cast doubts over output and yield.
“Wheat production has gone through several hurdles since last year including prevention against flooding in fall, enhancement of the weak crop, and prevention of pests disease,” the statement said, citing an official.
“And after efforts from various parties, the current wheat crop condition was good, and the prospect of a good harvest was indeed hard won.”
There have been recent media reports of wheat fields being destroyed for construction projects, and videos posted online showing premature wheat crop being cut to use as feed, the statement said.
Sri Lankan tea pickers’ dreams shattered by economic crisis
On a lush plantation in Sri Lanka, Arulappan Ideijody deftly plucks the tips of each tea bush, throwing them over her shoulder into an open basket on her back.
After a month of picking more than 18 kg (40 lb) of such tea leaves each day, she and her husband, fellow picker Michael Colin, 48, receive about 30,000 rupees, worth about $80 after the island nation devalued its currency.
“It is not close to enough money,” Arulappan, 42, said of their earnings, which must support the couple’s three children and her elderly mother-in-law.
“Where we used to eat two vegetables, now we can only afford one.”
She is one of millions of Sri Lankans reeling from the island’s worst economic crisis in decades.
The COVID-19 pandemic severed the tourism lifeline of the Indian Ocean nation, already short of revenue in the wake of steep tax cuts by the government.
Left critically short of foreign currency to buy essential supplies of food, fuel and medicines, Sri Lanka has turned to the International Monetary Fund for an emergency bailout. read more
Rampant inflation and shortages sparked weeks of protests that have sometimes turned violent.
Plantation workers like Arulappan, who hail predominantly from the island’s Tamil minority, are affected more than most, as they own no land to provide a cushion against soaring food prices.
Malaysia palm oil production, exports to rise 30pc by end-2022
Malaysia’s production and exports of palm oil are expected to rise 30 percent by the end of this year, amid increased demand after neighbouring Indonesia banned exports and following the re-entry of plantation workers from abroad, a minister said.
Malaysia, the world’s second-largest palm oil producer after Indonesia, stands to benefit from a global edible oil shortage exacerbated by Jakarta’s export ban last month, but has struggled with a prolonged labour crunch after coronavirus border curbs halted the entry of migrant workers for its plantations.
In September, authorities approved the recruitment of 32,000 migrant workers for palm oil plantations and some are expected to arrive this month and in June under a special government quota, Minister for Plantation Industries and Commodities Zuraida Kamaruddin said in a statement. She did not say how many workers were expected to be brought in.