Page 306 of articles about markets-economics

The Obama administration, hoping to prevent recalls, consumer illnesses and even deaths from contaminated meat, will unveil a proposal Tuesday to force companies to delay sending beef, pork and poultry to grocery stores while government inspectors complete tests.

With tight stocks and strong demand for both maize and soyabeans, the US spring planting has been deemed “the fight for acres” as both prices have needed to be attractive for both crops to receive planted areas to replenish stock levels in the 2011/12 season. However, prices have been much more supportive of the maize market over recent weeks and today’s report suggests that US farmers are to plant more maize for harvest 2011 much at the expense of soyabeans.

Pork production forecast is virtually unchanged despite a downward revision in the slaughter forecast. Production continues to be hindered by higher than expected prices generated a downward revision (1.3 percent) in consumption. Similarly robust prices are also expected to depress imports which are revised lower to the 2010 level.

According to USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), China is once again accepting live hogs exported from the United States. China had suspended those imports two years ago, when H1N1 influenza virus was sickening people, along with pork products.

2010 was a record year for exportation of the PDO product, "Prosciutto di Parma". With an increase of 9,5%, 2.256.000 hams were exported to over 80 different countries. Foreign markets currently represent 24% of Parma ham production.

FAO's first forecast for world wheat production in 2011 stands at 676 million tonnes, representing a growth of 3.4 percent from 2010, the March 2011 edition of the Crop Prospects and Food Situation report. This level would still be below the bumper harvests in 2008 and 2009.

The tendency towards a higher concentration of slaughterhouses in Germany has continued throughout 2010. The 10 largest German slaughterhouses had, in 2010, a 75,1% market share which represents an increase of 16,1% over the last 7 years. The 4 largest slaughterhouses have 60,1% of the market compared to the 48,4% they had 7 years ago.

The organization of French co-ops, "Coop de France" proposed, last week, to the French Minister of Agriculture, Bruno Le Maire, a series of measures with the objective of minimizing the volatility of prices in the livestock sector.

China’s pork exports in 2011 are forecast at 330,000 MT (CWE), a 19 percent increase from 278,000 MT in the previous year, fueled by strong demands in China’s export markets. Hong Kong, Japan, and Kyrgyzstan are the top three traditional Chinese export markets accounting for nearly 80 percent of China’s total shipments.

The market is less optimistic about the general financial situation than it was 12 months ago, although optimism remains higher than its lowest recorded point in 2008.

With enormous potential and a growing market, China will be able to raise its self-sufficiency rate in soybeans to 30 percent within three years, said Liu Denggao, vice-president of the China Soybean Industry Association.