 |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||
News from the Minnesota Association of Wheat |
|||||||||
EU COUNTRY HITS U.S. WHEAT "TOP TEN" LIST The top exporter of US wheat, once again
this year, was Egypt, at 4.167 million metric tons. The other top ten, in order of export amounts, are Japan, Philippines, Mexico, South Korea, Nigeria, Taiwan, Israel, and Colombia. USDA reports 25.453 MMT total
commercial wheat exports for the marketing year.
USDA REPORTS: WINTER WHEAT CROP NOT SO
SMALL The most watched-for number was the winter wheat production. Analysts had expected the gov to
lower their estimate, and they did, but not as much as some had thought. Finish the article at Last year President Clinton announced an easing of export restrictions to the island. There is a major catch,
however. The sanctions, which are stipulated by law, do not allow products to be sold to the Cuban government; the five flour mills in Cuba are owned by the government. Ergo, no U.S. wheat can be sold into Cuba.
"Cuba has not had the opportunity to buy wheat from the U.S. for the last 40 years, since Dwight Eisenhower was president," observed Paul Dickerson, USW vice president of overseas operations and one of the
experts who went to Cuba. "Hopefully, the U.S. embargo will end soon and, when it does, we want our potential wheat buyers to know as much as possible about U.S. wheat." In the meantime, USW continues to
try to find a way to facilitate sales through relief organizations in Cuba. Mitch Skalicky, the USW regional vice president who accompanied Dickerson on the trip, has been researching non-governmental organizations with
the potential ability to import wheat. "Although the folks with CARITAS and World Food Programs want to help, it doesn't appear at this time that they are set up to handle a steady stream of wheat shipments,"
Skalicky noted today. "We continue to explore options, however." "Our competitors have benefited far too long from the embargo against Cuba," declared Chris Shaffer, chairman of USW. "Other
countries modify their wheat sales programs to take advantage of U.S. sanctions and reap higher prices in the sanctioned countries because of the reduced competition. Hopefully, Congress will act and the American wheat
farmer can begin to look forward to some benefits from a market that's just 90 miles away." Cuba imports up to a million tons of wheat a year from European countries and, to a lesser extent, from
Canada and Argentina, at double the freight costs that it would take to bring wheat from the U.S. Gulf. Freight costs can account for 10% or more of the total grain purchase.
IRAQ EXPECTS POOR 2000 HARVEST DUE TO DROUGHT "Lack of fertilisers, agricultural machinery and the means of spraying planted areas, let alone drought, will badly affect this year's harvest," agriculture ministry
undersecretary Basil Dalali told a news conference. "Iraq is facing a severe drought for the second season exacerbated by the embargo, which has very seriously affected the agriculture sector," he said.
Iraq has been isolated by U.N. sanctions since its 1990 invasion of Kuwait. Finish the article at ...A Yemeni company opened a $50 million flour mill in the southern port city of Aden recently. The mill, which is the second modern mill in
the country, has a capacity of 1,500 tonnes of flour a day. ...In Nigeria, the Dangote Group is expanding into pasta and is planning to build another mill. ...Plans in Vietnam are for almost doubling that
country's milling capacity. They've got 8 mills now operating, a new one coming on line in July, two more will be ready for action in 2001, three more are newly licensed, and three more are in the planning stages. If
everything goes as planned, the country's daily milling capacity will reach about 4,490 MT. ...Congratulations to Egypt's Alexandria Mill and Nofal Mill of Alexandria Flour Mills Co. The USW Cairo office recently
announced that these mills will now be using the American Quality Seal, which is only awarded to companies which use U.S. wheat and meet the highest standards of excellence. The program, which began in Egypt, is
expanding to other countries in the region.
LATIN AMERICAN BUYERS
CONFERENCE SPURS SALES Focusing on topics that will help wheat buyers formulate a purchasing strategy using current supply and demand information on the wheat crop and projected price relationships, the conference also provided
a forum for Latin American wheat buyers to meet face to face with the U.S. grain companies. In addition to the larger multinational companies, many smaller country elevators from Kansas, Oklahoma, and North Dakota
attended the conference in order to form direct business relationships with the wheat buyers. "This conference is a grain trader's dream," one grain merchandiser said, "because in one place
we can meet directly and do business with all of the major wheat buyers of Latin America."
EVALUATING HAIL DAMAGE Hail was reported yesterday (June 6, 2000) in
parts of North Central and North Eastern North Dakota. Prior to jointing hail most often has a minimal effect on yield; however, as the crop approaches reproductive developmental stages, injury to the growing
point is more likely and leaf damage or loss has greater impact on yield. |
|||||||||
 |
|||||||||
 |
|||||||||