The 2024-25 corn output in Brazil could increase by 8.8% year-on-year (y-o-y) in tandem with impressive grain production. According to a March 13, 2025 report by the Systematic Survey of Agricultural Production (LSPA), uptick yields will support this increase. In a promising market year for local cereals and oilseeds, LSPA pegs corn production at 124.8 million tonnes. Three Different Positive Estimates LSPA’s latest...
Beef levy weighing in on Australia’s shores?
Australia is keeping a weather eye on a possible beef levy by April 2, 2025 if the U.S. taxes agricultural imports. This amid uptick export prices of Aussie trim beef bound for the U.S., by 26% year-on-year, up to mid-February, 2025. Hints of a beef surtax surfaced on March 2 when President Trump advised federal farmers to have “fun” and prepare for agricultural tariffs....
Cocoa rates founder temporarily on ICCO’s surplus forecast
Global cocoa rates rallied slightly on March 12, 2025 to $8,137.28 a tonne but are still nursing recent price lows over surplus projections. Earlier on March 10, the cocoa price had finally bowed down to its lowest point since December 2024, at $8,100 a tonne. The slump followed a 2024-25 surplus projection of 142,000 tonnes on February 28, 2025 by the...
Pizza and pie deals go combo on Pi Day
March 14 is Pi Day when Americans usually look forward to relishing discounted circular foods, especially pizza and pie. Pi is the Greek mathematical constant “π” or numeral 3.14159, which represents the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter. It is the first three digits of this number that provide the name day of March 14. The day...
Table grape varieties from South Africa earmarked for PH
After ten years of negotiations, the Philippines has finally allowed imports of various table grape varieties from South Africa, beginning February 26, 2025. Popular varieties like Crimson Seedless could form a major share of exports to the new market. They will also constitute a part of the 23 to 25% remaining portion of non-Europe bound South African table grapes. Currently,...
United States Department of Agriculture purchases $100 million in local fish
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is reprising its status as the government department with the most annual purchases by sourcing $100 million in domestic fish. The department’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) arm had by March 7, 2025 awarded multimillion-dollar contracts to pollock, shrimp and catfish suppliers. Some of the supplies will end up in the agency’s Child Nutrition...
Sugar index makes February comeback by 6.6%
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)’s sugar price index was up 7.3 points in February 2025 after three consecutive lackluster months. In its monthly global food price tracking report on March 8, FAO put the index of the sweetener at 118.5 points. Though showing monthly strength, the index is still down 22.2 points or 15.8% from the February 2024 equivalent. This way...
Canola from Canada under crossfire from 100% China tariffs
China has finally remembered electric vehicle (EV) tariffs of fall 2024 and avenged them with 100% surtax on canola from Canada. This is happening just a few weeks after Canada raised its 2024-25 canola ending stock. The Ministry of Commerce of China specifically targeted canola oil, oilcake, pea, pork and aquatic good imports, effective March 20, 2025. This fallout elicited a...
Agribusiness leads export job concentration in Peru
Peru’s agribusiness sector provided 44% of all jobs related to exports in the highly agricultural country in 2024. For this statistical report, Agraria Peru cites the Research Center for Economics and Global Business of the Association of Exporters (CIEN-ADEX). CIEN-ADEX’s data shows that annual export-related jobs reached 4,427,921 in 2024, up 15%. Traditional sectors such as agriculture and mining provided 1,750,131 jobs or 39.5%...
Ukraine to cope with tough agricultural export policies after EU membership
Ukraine will walk the line of agricultural export controls as a future European Union (EU) member but will limit exports, says an official. The country applied for EU membership on February 28, 2022, just after invasion by Russia amid trans-European grain shipment huddles. According to Andrei Dikun of the Ukrainian Agri Council, the nation will limit agri-food exports to the bloc...