Financial Times writers Demetri Sevastopulo and Ryan McMorrow reported on Thursday that, “Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping have agreed to hold a virtual summit this year, in the first sign of improving relations between the countries since the US president took office.
Read MoreMonday, U.S. Trade Representative Ambassador Katherine Tai announced the Biden Administration’s plans for a new approach to the U.S.-China relationship, including enforcement of the U.S.-China Phase One Agreement that was signed in January 2020. A series of upcoming bilateral discussions amongst trade negotiators will be scheduled.
Read MoreThe aftermath of Hurricane Ida continues to affect U.S. corn and soybean exports, causing more than a half-billion dollars in damage to Louisiana agriculture. However, fuel prices have remained steady despite refining disruptions in the Gulf of Mexico.
Read MoreU.S. soybean exports jumped last week to a six-month peak, while corn shipments were the highest in a month as Louisiana Gulf Coast terminals steadily ramped up operations disrupted nearly a month ago by Hurricane Ida, preliminary data showed on Monday.
Read MoreIn its monthly Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry Outlook report last week, USDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS) stated that, “In July, U.S. beef exports totaled 297 million pounds, exceeding last July’s exports by 17.9 percent or 45 million pounds.
Read MoreThe rise in part reflects large shipments of U.S. beef to China, the largest U.S. beef exports to China, ever recorded, totaling almost 45 million pounds more than the previous year.
China's wheat imports hit the highest level in more than two decades. The country is accounting for 19% of global wheat consumption right now.
According to China's customs data, the U.S. supplied 3 million metric tons of wheat imports during the last marketing year, which equates to a 28% share.
Before the 2010/2011 marketing year, the country's typical wheat imports totaled 1 million metric tons or less.
Recently, that amount bumped up to an average of 3.5 million metric tons in most years.
More than 70 agricultural associations called on President Joe Biden to address ocean carrier practices that are causing increased costs and delays for American businesses. In addition, support continues to swell for a bipartisan House bill to address many of the problems contributing to the port crisis impacting agricultural exports.
Read MoreAnother grain export terminal near Louisiana's Gulf Coast shuttered for two weeks by Hurricane Ida restarted operations this week even as heavy rains from Tropical Storm Nicholas battered the region on Tuesday.
Global grain trader Cargill Inc said it had reopened its Westwego, Louisiana, grain export terminal and on Monday unloaded its first grain barge since Ida came ashore on Aug. 29 and crippled shipments from the busiest U.S. grain export hub.
Cargill is the latest major grain trader to revive export operations after Ida devastated the region's power grid and damaged some of the nearly dozen grain terminals dotted along the Mississippi River from Baton Rouge to the Gulf of Mexico.
Asia's grain and oilseed buyers are set to face shipping delays of at least one month after Hurricane Ida damaged key export terminals around the U.S. Gulf Coast, two traders and one miller said. The slowdown in supplies is likely to stoke food inflation fears for price-sensitive consumers in Asia, where many importers have already drawn down crop inventories after having been forced to curb purchases amid volatile crop prices and COVID-related supply disruptions this year.
Read MoreOn Sept. 4, the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) reported that Coast Guard captain-of-the-port, New Orleans, Capt. Will Watson has opened the Lower Mississippi River to all vessel traffic in New Orleans and key ports throughout Southeast Louisiana Friday following Hurricane Ida.
After the successful removal of several power lines obstructing the waterway due to a downed transmission tower near mile marker 106.5 and a survey of the ship channel in key areas of concern, the waterway has been deemed open for all marine traffic, noted the news release.
Read MoreGrain companies with terminals along the lower Mississippi River are looking at shifting more of their committed grain and soybean exports to ports in the Pacific Northwest while damage assessments and repairs begin in earnest following Hurricane Ida.
Hurricane Ida brought significant wind damage across New Orleans and surrounding areas. The timeframe for resuming operations is unknown due to uncertainty of when electricity will be restored. Officials in some Louisiana parishes say some towns along the coast are uninhabitable.
Read MoreHurricane Ida barrelled into the Louisiana coast on Aug. 29, bringing 150 mph (230 kph) wind gusts, torrential rain, and widespread power outages to New Orleans and the surrounding region. It also brought all shipping traffic through the mouth of the Mississippi River to a grinding halt, snarling supply chains at the start of a crucial period for US grain exports.
The US Coast Guard closed the Mississippi to barge traffic ahead of the storm on Aug. 28, and the New Orleans International Airport shut down passenger and cargo traffic on Aug. 29. The Port of New Orleans closed its container shipping terminals on Aug. 30 and stopped all “breakbulk operations,” which refers to moving cargo from large ocean freighters to smaller barges for transport up the Mississippi River.
Read MoreWith exports in doubt because of hurricane damage to grain elevators near New Orleans, prices for corn, soybeans, and wheat, the most widely planted U.S. crops, fell to their lowest levels in several weeks in futures trading on Tuesday. The fall harvest will begin soon and could glut the U.S. market if foreign sales are disrupted.
Cargill reported “significant damage” to an elevator about 30 miles upstream on the Mississippi River from New Orleans; Cargill has another elevator near New Orleans. Exporter CHS said its grain facility may lack power for weeks while Bunge and ADM were assessing damage to their export facilities, reported Reuters. About 60% of U.S. corn and soybean exports are shipped from the Gulf Coast, it said.
Read MoreU.S. Agricultural Exports in Fiscal Year 2022 Forecast Up $4.0 Billion to Record $177.5 Billion; Imports at $159.5 Billion.
Read MoreCorn prices in Chicago sank to a seven-week low as broken grain elevators and power outages in the U.S.’s busiest agricultural port raised concerns about grain supplies with nowhere to go.
Hurricane Ida left more than 1 million homes and businesses without electricity in southern Louisiana and also shuttered export terminals in New Orleans. Food supply chains were already under severe pressure amid the pandemic, with shortages of everything from packaging to truck drivers.
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