Australian Wheat Exports Seen Up 84%
Australia's 2008/09 wheat exports are seen up 84% in 2008/09 to 13.6mmt, from 7.4mmt in 2007/08, according to ABARE.
In it's latest report released Monday, ABARE say that the country is still on line to produce a wheat crop of 22.5mmt this year provided that the crop gets further spring rainfall.
Australian wheat prices are forecast to average A$325/tonne, down from $362/tonne last year due to global production increases, they say.
ABARE project 2008/09 world wheat production at 672mmt, up from 609mmt.
Chinese Baby Milk - Do You Want Interior Or Exterior?
Hot on the heels of the tainted baby milk scandal comes news that melamine is being widely used in China to give livestock feed the appearance of higher protein content.
Melamine, a chemical normally used in plastics, is rich in nitrogen - an element often used to measure protein - and can be used to disguise diluted milk.
The banned chemical was found illegally mixed into many baby milk formula brands by some dairy manufacturers, including the Hebei-based Sanlu Group, to fool inspectors.
Last year, the chemical hit the headlines when melamine-laced food additives produced in China and later used in pet food were blamed by US officials for the deaths of dogs and cats there.
In the aftermath of the pet food scandal, regulators ordered that from May all livestock feed be tested for melamine in accordance with Ministry of Agriculture standards.
However, mainland authorities have been under fire since admitting that dairy products were not subject to melamine testing before the Sanlu powdered milk contamination scandal began to unfold, even though such checks had been ordered on livestock feed since May.
First Milk Delivers Strong Set of Results
First Milk has posted its 2007/08 results showing increases in turnover, operating profit and profits before taxes, which CEO Peer Humpheys describes as 'very good'.
* Group turnover up 24% to £602m (2007: £484m)
* Operating profit up to £9.66m (2007: £0.52m)
* Profit before tax up by £5.5m to £3.5m (2007: £2.01m loss)
* Processing interest payment of £1.85m made to members
Russian Grain Harvest 98.4MMT Off 82%
The Russian grain harvest is seen at 98.4MMT as of 22nd Sept off 82% of planted area. Wheat harvested to date is 56.6mmt from 81.5% of planted area, and barley 22.7mmt off 88% of planted area.
Despite the figures, the Ministry of Agriculture of Russia has repeated its previous total grain harvest forecast of 95-100 mln tonnes, with exports totalling 20-25 mln tonnes, according to Aleksey Gordeev, the Minister of Agriculture.
Overnight markets - grains leap on dollar, crude
Grains are sharply higher on the overnight eCBOT market following crude oil and spurred on by a weak dollar.
Crude is near a two week high on speculation that the US government's rescue package for the ailing financial markets will help improve waning demand.
The Bush administration yesterday widened the scope of its $700 billion rescue plan to include assets other than mortgage- related securities. The changes may make the cost of the bailout significantly higher than originally planned.
The implications for the US balance sheet are immense and rather than fixing the problem, the whole thing has a look of one of the most costly cock-ups in history.
Bush appears to want to go out in some sort of blaze of glory leaving the incoming President to pick up the pieces.
And it looks like there will be a lot of pieces to pick up that's for sure.
Nogger's prediction: give it a couple of weeks and the US will be just as deep in the financial brown smelly stuff as before, only $1 trillion more in debt than before. How much good money will they continue to throw after bad if this one doesn't work?
It seems like not everyone agrees. Crude has leapt $14/barrel since early last week.
This morning beans are 38-39c steadier, corn up 9-10c and wheat up 17-18c. The dollar is taking a pasting which will make US grains more competitive on the export market, but apart from that nothing has fundamentally changed really.
Crude Rises On Ideas Bailout Will Increase Demand
Crude is higher in early trade Monday on speculation that the U.S. government's proposed $700 billion rescue plan for the finance industry will spur demand.
I can't see it myself, in fact if anything the great rescue plan could ultimately have the opposite effect, dragging the US further into recession.
October crude, which expires today, is up more than $2 at $106.63/barrel.
Dollar Gets Battered
The dollar is taking a battering Monday morning as investors weigh up the costs of the US financial rescue plan.
The implications of spending $700 billion on soured mortgage-related assets and providing $400 billion to guarantee money-market mutual funds may end the rally that began in June and drove the U.S. currency up 10 percent versus the euro.
"The downdraft on the dollar from the hit to the balance sheet of the U.S. government will dwarf the short-term gains from solving the banking crisis," said one analyst.
At 9.50am London time the pound stood at $1.8434.
Today's US Banking Shock
It seems like there's big shock banking news out every Monday at the moment, and today is no exception.
The last two major US investment banks Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs have changed their status to become bank holding companies, allowing them to take deposits from investors.
The changes should enable them to raise more funds by opening commercial banks and will also give them access to Federal Reserve support.
Both banks filed requests with the Federal Reserve to change their status, and late on Sunday, the Fed announced it had granted the requests.
