Return
to Story Page
To print: Select File and then Print from your
browser's menu
British beet plantings 30% complete
Some 30 per cent of the 1999 British sugar beet crop has been drilled, despite wet weather over the weekend, a British Sugar Plc official said. "We are on course," the official said, adding that around 50 per cent of the area of about 170,000 hectares should be drilled by the weekend given good weather. British Sugar, Britain's sole beet processor, advises growers to sow between March 10 and April 10. "In general the earlier the crop is drilled within this window the better," the official said. But the official noted that although wet weather meant 15 per cent of the 1998 crop was drilled late, output of 1.44 million tonnes was the fourth highest on record.
Mexico update on 1998 grain crop
Mexico's 1998 crop of grains and oilseeds reached 31 million tonnes for the country's two production cycles, the agriculture ministry (sagar) said. The following is a table detailing the preliminary 1998 grains crop data according to Sagar statistics obtained byReuters on Tuesday and relating to harvest data collected up to March 22 which cover harvest results back to Jan 31.
The 1998 grains harvest consists of Mexico's 1997-98 fall-winter crop and the 1998 spring-summer crop. Crops are planted and harvested year-round in Mexico. The spring-summer crop is normally planted from early March through August and harvesting starts in early September through January.
The 1998 spring-summer crop was delayed for two months due to a severe six-month drought in the first half of 1998. The fall-winter crop is planted from mid-September to end-January with harvesting starting in March or April and continuing through July, or in late crop years through August. In the following table, "hectares planted" refers to hectares farmers agreed to plant based on crop loans received. "Planted" refers to the actual surface which was planted and "harvested" to the area harvested during 1998.
Sri Lanka awards wheat tender to AWB
Sri Lanka has awarded a 30,000 tonne hard wheattender to the Australian Wheat Board at $155 per tonne C&F for delivery in April, a government official said. The official said Sri Lanka had tendered for the wheat inearly March on an urgent basis for the Sinhalese and Tamil New Year in mid April.
Indonesian olein rises
Indonesian palm olein prices rose in last week on a weakening rupiah, traders said. "The market was fairly active. Prices have risen because of a weakening rupiah. We've heard rumours the government is going to lower the CPO export tax again, but I haven't heard any further developments," said one trader in Jakarta. Olein was quoted at 3,800-3,850 rupiah/kg in Jakarta. Crude palm oil hovered at 2,800 rupiah/kg in Medan, North Sumatra.
Australian sugar loses markets
Australia's sugar export industry had lost traditional markets and was under threat from superior quality sugar from competitors, an official with Australia's sugar export monopoly said. "Australia is no longer the pacesetter in world sugarquality," QueenslandSugar Corporation (QSC) researcher Owen Crees said in an address to the Australian Cane Farmers Association National conference here. "We have a very good reputation for a quality product butwe are seeing the competition match and exceed our product, and in some instances encroach on our tradition markets," he said. "Brazil which produces a very high polarised sugar ismuscling in on our markets and it is enough for the Australian industry to be very concerned about," he said.
Crees told the conference that Australia had lost theimportant sugar markets of Singapore and Dubai. "Australia's quality hasn'T dropped -- our competition haslifted their game and improved their quality of sugar to match ours," he told Reuters after his address. "We're still regarded as a very good supplier and still indemand and very secure in most markets," he said.
Thai mills to take soymeal delivery
Thai feed mills expect to take delivery of 20,000 tonnes of Indian soymeal by end-March, trade sources said. But soybeansimports were slack this week as fresh local supplies entered the market, they told Reuters. "I heard that there will be around 20,000 tonnes of Indian soyameal shipped to Thailand by this month," said an official at the Feedstuff Users Promotion Association.
He said demand for imported soymeal and soybeans was falling as local products were arriving. Under government regulations, users must buy locally if supplies become available. The government has also set minimum prices of 11.00 baht a kg for soybeans and 9.50 baht per kg for soyameal. "Although import prices are cheaper than local prices, wehave no choice. We cannot import much now as we must buy from the local market," the association official said. He expected thin imports until the end of May.
Traders said US soyabeans were quoted slightly up at $182-185 per tonnes on a C&F basis, compared with $180 last week. Indian soymeal was offered unchanged at $140 to $150 per tonne on the same basis. In the palm oil market, Thai palm fresh fruit buncheswere quoted sharply lower at 2.80 baht a kg against around 3.30 baht last week because of an increase in local supply, said a plantation owner in the southern province of Chumphon.
Copyright © 1999 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
------------------------------------------------------------
This story was printed from Net Express located at http://www.expressindia.com. Net Express provides a portal to India, with news from The Indian Express and The Financial Express along with sites on travel and tourism, the entertainment industry, the power sector, the environment and much more.
------------------------------------------------------------