Low rain in Brazil’s coffee belt upswung global pricing by 3.19% day-on-day on June 23, 2025, after record lows. Arabica for September delivery in New York gained 3.4% day-on-day on the 23rd. This was even as the International Coffee Exchange (ICE)’s robusta deliveries in London surged by 2.91%. On average, Arabica sold at $3.29 per pound by midday on the 23rd, an...
Sugar rates tumble following sharp crude oil slump, 2026 surplus
Sugar futures dropped to a four-month low on June 23, 2025 by -0.37% day-on-day after crude oil rates crashed. Price pressure also emanated from Brazil’s and India’s 2025-26 surplus projections. Hence, raw sugar futures touched $0.16 a pound (-0.37% daily drop) on June 23 following a lengthy stint near $0.17. News of war ceasefire between Iran and Israel on the 23rd ended...
Free market cocoa drives illicit Ivory Coast-Guinea trade
At 2,200 CFA francs ($3.68) a kg, Ivory Coast’s farm gate cocoa is proving too low to prevent illicit free market offers across Guinea. According to Bloomberg, traders are bypassing official checkpoints in western Ivory Coast to deliver 64-kg sacks of cocoa beans into Guinea-Conakry. Although Ivorian authorities have since 2023 been battling smuggling hard, the illegal trade is turning unstoppable. ...
Table grape season in Central California courts timely demand
Central Valley in California is locking a promising start to its 2025-26 table grape season, amid steady demand past Mexico’s supplies. By mid-June 2025, weather-affected imports from Mexico were at 8.9 million boxes out of a possible 24 million boxes. A cross-border decrement favors California’s season at a nostalgic timing when the memory of its table grape breeding centenary is still fresh....
The Suez Canal transit for giant ships back 15 months later
CMA CGM Osiris on June 18, 2025 gained passage via the Suez Canal, ending 15 months of huge vessel absence, critical for grain shipping. Inbound from Singapore, the 154,000-tonne 366-meter long ship weighed in at the Alexandria port via the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. Osama Rabie, head of the Suez Canal Authority, linked the breakthrough to a limited 15% docking discount for...
Biomed horseshoe crab harvest banned again in New York
The New York State (NYS) legislature hopes no veto will again hound its June 12, 2025 ban on horseshoe crab harvest for biomedicine (biomed) purposes. This latest attempt to protect the vulnerable critters follows the passing of a bill by both the state’s Assembly and the Senate. The ban seeks to reinstitute the similar Horsheshoe Crab Protection Bill of June 2024 that...
U-pick strawberry season getting huge in Michigan
Strawberry farms in Michigan in the northern United States offering u-pick services to buyers are witnessing a glut 2025 season. From the middle part of the state such as Fenton to the southeastern Monroe County, early picking is in full swing. The late-May-to-early-July statewide season will help land the annual average of 50 billion pounds of fresh berries in MI. ...
Lobster harvest in Jamaica off limits till end June 2025
The spiny lobster season in Jamaica won’t start till July 1, 2025, but authorities are already fending off any closed season harvest. According to The Kitts Nevis Observer, the National Environmental Planning Agency (NEPA) and the National Fisheries Authority (NFA) have begun closed season crackdown. The agencies are advising merchants who still have frozen supplies from the foregoing season which ended...
Indian Kashmir cherries make maiden shipments to UAE, Saudi
The Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir has inaugurated foreign shipments of specialty cherries, beginning with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). After the initial shipment on June 16, 2025, Union Minister of Commerce & Industry Piyush Goyal lauded the breakthrough as “cheer-worthy.” Goyal also wrote on his X platform account that local farmers will now be...
Sino-Africa agricultural trade lands zero import tariffs
Africa’s agricultural exports to China will benefit greatly from the mid-June 2025 scrapping of import tariffs in Sino-Africa trade. On June 16, 2025, China’s President Xi Jinping granted zero tariff treatment on all tariff lines to some 53 nations in Africa excepting Eswatini. Speaking at the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in Changsha, east-central China, Xi reiterated the 100% import tax exemptions. ...