By admin 
Recent data from Ukraine’s Agriculture Ministry shows that grain exports for the season so far have risen 22% YoY to 19.5mt as of 16 December, up from 16mt for the same period last year. The increase was driven by wheat, with exports rising by 37% YoY to 9.2mt. Similarly, corn exports stood at 8mt, slightly down compared to last year. However, total grain exports so far this month fell significantly by 60% YoY to 1.1mt, down from 3mt for a similar period a year ago.
The latest estimates from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) show that the nation’s grain, pulse and oilseed production could rise by 7% YoY to 314.8mt for the 2025 season. The growth will be driven by soybean and first-crop maize, with output seen rising by 12.9% YoY and 9.3% YoY respectively. The rise in production estimates could also be attributed to the increase in harvest area, which is expected to expand by 0.8% YoY to 79.8m hectares for the period mentioned above. Meanwhile, the agency estimates 2024 grain production stood at 294.3mt, down 6.7% YoY.
There are suggestions that the Chinese government has requested domestic traders and processors to reduce overseas grain imports this year, in its effort to support local farmers amid a slowdown in domestic consumption. Along with that, officials are taking longer than usual to do quality checks of imported beans, delaying the cargoes at the border for more than 20 days, compared to about five days under normal circumstances.
Weekly export inspection data from the USDA for the week ending 12 December shows that US corn and wheat inspections rose while soybean export eased over the last week. Export inspections of corn stood at 1,129.8kt, up from 1,058kt in the previous week and 959.9kt reported a year ago. Similarly, US wheat export inspections stood at 298.1kt, above 248kt a week ago, and slightly higher than 284.8kt seen last year. For soybeans, US export inspections stood at 1,676.4kt, down from 1,736.8kt a week ago but higher than the 1,425kt seen for the same period last year.