NEWS IN BRIEF UKRAINE/RUSSIA: Top global sunflowerseed producers Ukraine and Russia produced a bumper crop in the 2019/20 season, recording export highs as well, UkroAgroConsult reported on 29 May. Exports totalled 4.5M tonnes from Ukraine in the September 2019 to April 2020 period, and 2.1M tonnes for Russia from September 2019 to March 2020. Ukraine was forecast to export 6.5M tonnes in 2019/20 compared with 6.1M in 2018/19, while Russia’s exports would reach 3.3M tonnes this year against 2.6M tonnes in 2018/19.
US court blocks sales of dicamba weedkiller in USA German chemicals giant Bayer is facing a new setback following a US appeals court ruling to block sales of its dicamba weedkiller in the USA, Reuters reported on 4 June. The ruling comes amid earlier reports that Bayer had reached verbal agreements to settle up to 85,000 of 125,000 US cancer lawsuits related to the Roundup glyphosate weedkiller, which Bayer inherited as part of its acquisition of US agrochemicals firm Monsanto in 2018. In its decision on 3 June, the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had substantially understated the risks related to the use of dicamba, a chemical found in herbicides sold by Bayer, BASF and Corteva Agrisciences. Bayer and BASF said they disagreed with the court’s judgement while Corteva said it was reviewing the decision and believed dicamba was
safe to use, Reuters said. The EPA said on 8 June that farmers had until 31 July to use their supplies of dicamba-based herbicides that they had on hand as of 3 June. “Our order will mitigate some of the devastating economic consequences of the court’s decision for growers,” the EPA said in a statement. According to Bayer, about 60% of the US soyabean crop this year is expected to be seeded with its dicamba-resistant Xtend soyabeans, which need to be sprayed with the herbicide to ward off weeds that have developed a tolerance to glyphosate. Glyphosate is the most commonly used herbicide on oilseed and other crops. The Independent reported on 26 May that Bayer was likely to announce the settlements related to glyphosate some time in June. The verbal agreements were part of a US$10bn plan to end Bayer's Roundup legal battle, it said.
Global agribusiness giant ADM has entered a joint venture with leading beef producer Marfrig to supply plant-based products to North and South America, ADM announced on 27 May. The companies had a history of working together and the joint venture company, PlantPlus Foods, would expand on that partnership. ADM’s plant-based foods include soya flour, soya protein concentrates, isolated soya proteins, textured protein, wheat protein isolates and other products. “Consumers today are
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ADM and Marfrig create plant-based food joint venture
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thinking about food in new ways, with the knowledge that
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including plants,” said Leticia Gonçalves, ADM’s president, Global Specialty Ingredients. Marfrig would own 70% of PlantPlus Foods, with 30% owned by ADM. Marfrig would be responsible for production and distribution via its South American facilities, mainly in Várzea Grande, Mato Grosso, Brazil, and its US facilities. ADM would supply technical expertise and a range of plantbased ingredients and systems from its speciality protein complex in Mato Grosso do Sul, and its new pea protein plant in Enderlin, North Dakota.
India's vegetable oil consumption to fall by 2M tonnes India is expected to consume 2M tonnes less vegetable oil this season compared to 2018/19 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, OFI’s first webinar heard on 9 June. Hindu Business Line consulting editor G Chandrashekhar said consumption by the world’s largest edible oil importer would total 21M tonnes in 2019/20, compared with 23M tonnes in 2018/19. Imports would reach 13.5M tonnes this season, a 10% fall against 15M tonnes in 2018/19. “We would normally see a consumption surge during the traditional festival season from August to October but this will remain 6 OFI – JUNE 2020
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muted due to losses in jobs and incomes.” In terms of vegetable oil imports, palm oil was expected to take the biggest hit, forecast to fall to 7.5M tonnes this season against 9.2M tonnes in 2018/19. Soyabean oil import was expected to rise to 3.3M tonnes in 2019/20 (against 3.1M tonnes in 2018/19), while sunflower oil imports were forecast to increase to 2.6M tonnes this year against 2.3M tonnes in 2018/19. Andrei Agapi, head of Asia Pacific Agriculture at S&P Global Platts, said China was back in the soyabean market and taking advantage of low international prices that
reached US$350.44/tonne in May, compared with a peak of US$418.33/tonne in November 2019. However, its actual purchases were largely symbolic against the extra US$32bn of agricultural products it had committed to buy in its Phase 1 trade deal with the USA. This year, China’s purchases of US soyabeans had ranged around 8.5M tonnes/ month. However, it would need to buy 14M tonnes/month from the USA to meet its trade deal commitments, Agapi said. The first OFI webinar attracted 204 attendees from 63 countries. www.ofimagazine.com
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