• Global Times reported that China is expanding the pilot planting of genetically modified (GM) corn and soybeans, aiming to accelerate the commercialisation of biological breeding. The pilot GM planting began in 2021 and was expanded to farmlands in North China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and southwest China’s Yunnan Province in 2022. The GM corn and soybean crops had outstanding performances in terms of pesticide and herbicide resistance in the pilot projects. The yields of GM corn and soybeans were also up by 5.6% and 11.6% respectively.

• Bloomberg quoted an industry player as saying that Argentina may try to get farmers to sell their soybean harvests in September by implementing a special temporary forex rate. A government official said that processors would be able to keep 25% of soymeal/oil export revenues in dollars. This would imply a better forex rate since 75% of revenue would be at the official rate of 350 Pesos/dollar while the balance 25% would be sold on parallel markets trading at more than 700 Pesos/dollars.

• Bernama reported that Malaysia’s smallholders have the opportunity to generate higher incomes by increasing exports of their products through MSPO and RSPO certification programmes. According to RSPO’s CEO, Joseph D’Cruz, RSPO adoption is still very low among smallholders. Currently, 23 grower companies and just 6 smallholders groups in Malaysia are RSPO certified. The cost of getting the RSPO certification for smallholder groups ranges from RM25,000 to RM40,000 per group including membership and auditing fees. The cost also varies according to the size of the group.

• Reuters reported that Brazil is set to overtake the US this year as the world’s top corn exporter, reflecting both a bumper harvest and logistical breakthroughs such as the consolidation of northern export routes, which are boosting the competitiveness of the country. Northern export routes benefitted from a 2013 law that encouraged grain traders such as Cargill and Bunge to build new private-use port terminals (TUP). Their transhipment stations on the Tapajos and Madeira rivers have linked up the heart of Brazilian farm country and up-and-coming ports such as Itacoatiara, Santarem and Barcanera.

• The Edge Online said that Ecoscience International, which is listed on the ACE Market, has bagged a RM24mil contract for the construction of a palm refinery in Sulawesi, Indonesia. The palm refinery will consist of a 300-tonne per day (tpd) refining plant, 300 tpd dry fractionation plant and bottling plant. The letter of award was issued by PT Wijaya Inti Nusantara Sawit.

• Reuters reported that India has imposed a 20% duty on exports of parbroiled rice with immediate effect. Last month, India surprised buyers by imposing a ban on exports of nonbasmati white rice following a ban on exports of broken rice last year. India accounts for more than 40% of world rice exports and low inventories with other exporters mean any cut in shipments could inflate food prices. India exported 7.4mil tonnes of parboiled rice last year.

Source: AmInvest Research - 4 Sept 2023