CS Brazil H1 may sugar production expected to drop 30pc on year
Sugar production in the key Center-South Brazil region is expected to total 1,67 million mt in the first half of May, a decrease of 30.1 percent on the year, an S&P Global Commodity Insights survey of 11 analysts showed May 20. Of the analysts surveyed, the cane crush estimate ranged from 33.3 million mt to 38.5 million mt. The average estimate was for a total cane crush of 35.6 million mt, a 14.1 percent drop on the year. Weather in the Center-South was favorable for crushing during H1 May, with less than one day expected lost to rain and about 235-245 mills active as of May 16. “The Center-South harvest is picking up pace, but still delayed when compared to last year,” according to Platts Analytics. “Moreover, mills should divert more cane to ethanol production than the same period last year because ethanol has been more profitable than sugar since the start of the season.” The proportion of cane used for sugar production is expected to be 40.9 percent, down from 46.0 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.
Iraq’s prized rice crop threatened by drought
Drought is threatening the Iraqi tradition of growing amber rice, the aromatic basis of rich lamb and other dishes, and a key element in a struggling economy. The long-grained variety of rice takes its name from its distinctive scent, which is similar to that of amber resin. It is used in Iraqi meals including sumptuous lamb qouzi, mansaf and stuffed vegetables. But after three years of drought and declining rainfall, Iraq’s amber rice production will be only symbolic in 2022, forcing consumers to seek out imported varieties and leaving farmers pondering their future. “We live off this land,” Abu Rassul says, standing near a small canal that in normal times irrigates his two hectares (five acres) near Al-Abassiya village in the central province of Najaf. “Since I was a child I have planted amber rice,” says the farmer in his 70s, his face wrinkled and unshaven, dressed in a dazzling white dishdasha robe.
How will Australia’s new government affect iron ore?
In 2011, Australian iron ore production amounted to about 477 million metric tonnes. A decade later, however, that figure doubled. The land of the kangaroos is also the world’s largest iron ore exporter, responsible for the lion’s share of the world’s total output – about 49 percent, the majority of which goes to China. However, Australia just elected Anthony Albanese, a new Labor prime minister, to replace a conservative coalition government that had been in power for more than a decade. Rumours of a coalition with the Australian Greens, a left-wing party, are swirling, generating substantial political turmoil in the mineral-rich country.
UK wheat production to rebound in 2022-23
UK grain production in 2022-23 is expected to reach 22.85 million tonnes, an increase of 450,000 tonnes from last year and more than 3.8 million tonnes higher than 2020-21. Wheat production improved in 2021-22 to 14 million tonnes from the previous 40-year low wheat crop, but it is still below expectations, according to a report from the Foreign Agricultural Service of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). Production for 2022-23 is currently forecast to rise to 14.7 million tonnes but the questions over input costs, especially fertilizer and fuel, mean crop treatment may be reduced, with potential yield and quality reductions, the USDA said. “… producers are reported to be increasingly concerned about the recent surge in the costs of inputs and fuel due to the developments in Ukraine,” the USDA said. “This may lead to less management of the crops, with some producers reported to be considering reducing fertilizer and other input use on the current crop and storing product for use on the 2023-24 crop. In contrast to the otherwise favorable outlook, this could reduce both the potential yield and the quality of the UK harvest, irrespective of the weather over the coming months.” Incorporation of wheat in the feed ration increased, mainly at the expense of domestic barley and imported corn. Domestic wheat also replaced some of the previous increased incorporation of imported corn in the biofuel sector. A much-recovered wheat crop in 2021-22 significantly reduced the reliance on imported corn, mostly from Ukraine, despite a smaller barley harvest and corresponding decline in feed barley usage.
India’s crude oil production drops 0.95pc in April
India’s crude oil production fell by 0.95 percent year-on-year to 2,469.67 thousand metric tonnes (TMT) in April due to lower output from fields operated by private firms, the government data showed on Tuesday. However, the crude oil production in April is 3.47 percent higher than the target for the month. Crude oil production by Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) in nomination block during April 2022 was 1,650.65 TMT which is 4.93 percent higher than the target and 0.86 percent higher than the production during April 2021, according to data released by the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas.
Germany is looking to west Africa to help solve its gas woes
On May 22, Olaf Scholz started a three-day tour of Africa in Senegal—his first since becoming the chancellor of Germany—and said his country wants to help develop natural gas projects off the coast of west Africa. Germany is Europe’s largest economy but its local gas production caters to only 5 percent of annual demand, making it dependent on imports from Europe, especially Russia, for the rest. With Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine causing Germany to halt imports from Russia and suspend the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline (which was supposed to take gas from Russia to Germany), Scholz’s government is exploring alternatives for gas supply.