2024-25 sugar production in Africa will gain 0.8 million tonnes, projects the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in mid-2025. The FAO’s report puts continental sugar output at 10.4 million tonnes before the culmination of the 2024-25 season. Tipping the scales will be the Nile irrigator, Egypt, with 2.6 million tonnes, alongside Morocco and Kenya. While Kenya’s annual production will scale up by...
United States EPA proposes higher biodiesel blending, boosts grain markets
A proposal by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to raise the mandatory biodiesel blending cap rallied grain markets mid-June 2025. The EPA could raise the biodiesel blending minimum to almost 5.25 billion gallons in 2026, up from 3.35 billion gallons in 2025. If the unconfirmed raise occurs, it will mark the first major renewable energy decision to win President...
Tomato prices in Nigeria to normalize past Sallah celebrations
Currently high tomato prices might normalize after the June 6-9, 2025 Sallah celebrations, amid falling yields in Kaduna, northwest Nigeria. According to Rabiu Zuntu, chair of the Kaduna branch of the Tomatoes Growers and Processors Association of Nigeria (TOPAN), prices could reduce this week. TOPAN’s Kaduna branch had earlier linked the costliness to the three-day Muslim holiday and low production. Robust demand through...
The South Africa citrus marketing season fast-tracks 2025 gains
The winter citrus marketing campaign in South Africa registered gains by week-23, 2025 and included surplus mandarin shipments to India. Exporters look forward to repeating the 2024 success when 164.5 million 15-kilogram citrus boxes engaged international markets. By marketing week 23 [before June 6, 2025], Eastern, Western and Northern Cape had aggregated about 46.5 million 15-kg boxes of citrus. The...
Gazania ornamental flower turning south Australia into a costly jungle
The vibrant tropical daisy and ornamental flower Gazania rigens has turned invasive in south Australia, with control costs hitting millions. An ability to survive in diverse soils and dry conditions has aided the shrub to spread on roadsides, dells and even cereal farms. Currently on sale by the local nursery Bunnings and online stores, the ornamental plant is nevertheless increasingly attracting production...
Brown eggs recall in several states could stoke price pressure
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA)’s recall of 1.7 million dozen cage-free brown eggs from possible Salmonella enteritidis contamination has rekindled price concerns. On June 5, California-based August Egg Company volunteered the market withdrawal of eggs sold between February 3 and May 15, 2025. The recall affects central, southern and western states, namely Arizona, California, Washington, Wyoming, Illinois, Indiana, Nevada and New Mexico....
Cocoa and weather crossroads favor Ivory Coast’s mid-crop
Ivory Coast is experiencing a good rapport between rain and cocoa, favoring a mid-crop that has delayed from previous dry weather. According to Reuters on June 9, 2025, soil moisture from good saturation is buoying hopes of gains for the April-September crop. Unlike the 2023-2024 season when a virus enjoined to cut production, in 2025 rainfall poses no affiliated disease threat. ...
Odisha squeezes its celebrated mangoes into France, Belgium markets
The eastern India state of Odisha has in June 2025 secured market entry for its popular mangoes in France and Belgium. Successful negotiations by the state’s Department of Agriculture & Farmers’ Empowerment in conjunction with Palladium India locked the deal. The bilateral development brings Odisha’s mangoes to seven lucrative city destinations that include Dubai, Rome, London and Dublin, among others....
Rice producers in Japan feel for consumers on soaring prices
Over 50% of paddy producers in Japan feel that rice prices are “too high” for consumers, in a survey by an agricultural association. In a first for a country that lived for decades without inflation, consumers have lately been queueing to purchase affordable rice. With retail rates doubling in the year ending May 2025, 43.1% of storekeepers are fearing that customers...
FAO sugar index continues triple-month decline by -2.6% in May 2025
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on June 6 reported a third consecutive monthly sugar price index decline by 2.9 points for May 2025. May’s sugar index dropped -2.6% from April’s, to 109.4 points, even as the global prices of most other categories performed better. This follows a similar decrement in both March and April, driven by a positive 2025-26 global production outlook. Since...