Italy’s overall food exports stagnated in June for the first time this year, mainly due to a 17.1% drop in sales to the UK, which was caused partly by a devaluation of the British pound, said Italy’s farmers’ group Coldiretti, which reiterated its warning of an impending crisis in the case of a No Deal Brexit.

The Polish sour cherry shortage has led to a two-tier market characterised by relevant price differences between high- and low-quality products, IEG Vu has learned.

Four of the last six US apple harvests rank in the top 10 of historical production, including the record 2014 harvest. This year’s harvest is forecast at 253,095 bushels, equivalent to 4.82 million tonnes, US Apple Association director Mark Seetin told delegates at this year’s USApple conference in Chicago.

In the first six months of 2019, the key driver was a bottled water segment with annual average sales growth of 10.3% and production index of 9.7%. Annual production and distribution of energy drinks rose by an average of 8.7% and 5.4% respectively, while carbonated soft drinks (CSD) production increased by 6.2%. 

There will be a limited service on IEG Vu on Monday, August 26 due to a national holiday in the UK.

Italy’s overall food exports stagnated in June for the first time this year, mainly due to a 17.1% drop in sales to the UK, which was caused partly by a devaluation of the British pound, said Italy’s farmers’ group Coldiretti, which reiterated its warning of an impending crisis in the case of a No Deal Brexit.

The European anti-fraud office (OLAF) has welcomed a ruling in the Spanish Supreme Court that upholds its findings on a EUR9.7 mln customs fraud.

Prices for Spanish tomato paste and canned tomatoes are ramping up as rumours of smaller Californian and Italian crops abound, IEG Vu has learned.

The first sweetcorn crop in Hungary ended on adequate levels in late July, with the harvest of the second crop starting in late August, to last until late October.

There will be a limited service on IEG Vu on Monday, August 26 due to a national holiday in the UK.

First projections for the 2019/20 marketing year peg the country’s total sweet and sour cherry production 41,000 tonnes above last season’s level. Increases are expected also for volumes earmarked for processing.

Cocoa futures in New York are still recovering from losses seen earlier on in the week, while London contracts were non-moving in yesterday’s (August 22) close.

A larger than expected Ivorian cocoa crop combined with growing global economic gloom to push New York futures down to five-month lows this week, almost 15% below their June highs.

Barry Callebaut has started manufacturing at its second chocolate plant in Rancaekek, a sub-district of Bandung, Indonesia.

There will be a limited service on IEG Vu on Monday, August 26 due to a national holiday in the UK.

Cocoa futures in both New York and London settled higher yesterday (August 21) after dipping back to lows on Tuesday’s (August 20) close.

The USDA has highlighted the need for food and drink exporters to be aware of the more environmentally-sensitive packaging requirements in Germany.

Trade chatter that the next (2020) Brazilian crop might have been damaged more than thought by recent cold weather combined with a bounce in the country’s currency to lift values off the three-month lows seen earlier this week.

Brazilian coffee farmers have basically finished harvesting the 2019/20 crop, local consultancy Safras & Mercado said.

There will be a limited service on IEG Vu on Monday, August 26 due to a national holiday in the UK.

The USDA has highlighted the need for food and drink exporters to be aware of the more environmentally-sensitive packaging requirements in Germany.

Brazilian coffee coop Cooxupé will receive less coffee than initially expected in 2019/20, following declines in output and quality, its president Carlos Augusto Rodrigues de Melo said.

Italy’s overall food exports stagnated in June for the first time this year, mainly due to a 17.1% drop in sales to the UK, which was caused partly by a devaluation of the British pound, said Italy’s farmers’ group Coldiretti, which reiterated its warning of an impending crisis in the case of a No Deal Brexit.

China's Mengniu Dairy closed a deal with Uruguay’s National Milk Producers Cooperative (Conaprole) in order to facilitate trade between the two countries.

There will be a limited service on IEG Vu on Monday, August 26 due to a national holiday in the UK.

Increasingly larger operations, improved milk yield averages, industry consolidation and declines in the number of small subsistence farms continued being the main trends in Bulgaria's dairy industry last year.

Brazilian dairy product imports fell by 9.3% in July from the previous month to 10,193 tonnes, according to Cepea.

The USDA has highlighted the need for food and drink exporters to be aware of the more environmentally-sensitive packaging requirements in Germany.

The Philippine coconut processor Axelum Resources is set to expand its coconut milk powder offer through its main factory in Davao island (southern Philippines).

Italy’s overall food exports stagnated in June for the first time this year, mainly due to a 17.1% drop in sales to the UK, which was caused partly by a devaluation of the British pound, said Italy’s farmers’ group Coldiretti, which reiterated its warning of an impending crisis in the case of a No Deal Brexit.

The 2019 macadamia crop value is expected to reach around USD42 million in the 2019-2020 season in Hawaii, 22% less than in the previous season, according to the domestic grower association (HMNA).

US peanuts have regained access to the Russian market, with the ban expected to be lifted in three days, Rosselkhoznadzor said.

There will be a limited service on IEG Vu on Monday, August 26 due to a national holiday in the UK.

The US edible nut grower, processor and wholesaler John B. Sanfilippo & Son, reported a 21.5% net income increase in the financial year (FY) 2019 (June 28 2018-June 27 2019), after net sales declined by 1.4% to USD876.2 mln and sales volume increased by 1.4%.

Italy’s overall food exports stagnated in June for the first time this year, mainly due to a 17.1% drop in sales to the UK, which was caused partly by a devaluation of the British pound, said Italy’s farmers’ group Coldiretti, which reiterated its warning of an impending crisis in the case of a No Deal Brexit.

The Chilean processed cherry sector has shrunk further, shadowed by the sharp increase in profitably for the fresh sector, the USDA reports.

Four of the last six US apple harvests rank in the top 10 of historical production, including the record 2014 harvest. This year’s harvest is forecast at 253,095 bushels, equivalent to 4.82 million tonnes, US Apple Association director Mark Seetin told delegates at this year’s USApple conference in Chicago.

The first sweetcorn crop in Hungary ended on adequate levels in late July, with the harvest of the second crop starting in late August, to last until late October.

There will be a limited service on IEG Vu on Monday, August 26 due to a national holiday in the UK.

First projections for the 2019/20 marketing year peg the country’s total sweet and sour cherry production 41,000 tonnes above last season’s level. Increases are expected also for volumes earmarked for processing.

Italy’s overall food exports stagnated in June for the first time this year, mainly due to a 17.1% drop in sales to the UK, which was caused partly by a devaluation of the British pound, said Italy’s farmers’ group Coldiretti, which reiterated its warning of an impending crisis in the case of a No Deal Brexit.

The Polish sour cherry shortage has led to a two-tier market characterised by relevant price differences between high- and low-quality products, IEG Vu has learned.

The Chilean processed cherry sector has shrunk further, shadowed by the sharp increase in profitably for the fresh sector, the USDA reports.

The first sweetcorn crop in Hungary ended on adequate levels in late July, with the harvest of the second crop starting in late August, to last until late October.

There will be a limited service on IEG Vu on Monday, August 26 due to a national holiday in the UK.

The Canadian minister of agriculture has announced the deployment of CAD800,000 (USD601,720) to support the honey bee sector in Atlantic Canada to help pollinating wild blueberries in the region.

Plummeting corn values have slowed US farmer selling and encouraged some key importers like South Korea and Mexico to take on a bit more stock recently, but the frequently moribund export market may need to wake up more to stem the price decline, analysts say.

Barely routine import demand has continued to erode wheat prices into the peak Northern Hemisphere harvest period keeping key exporters worried about what seems to be shaping up as a highly competitive market ahead.

There will be a limited service on IEG Vu on Monday, August 26 due to a national holiday in the UK.

Winter wheat futures were higher Thursday while Minneapolis contracts finished with losses.

Soybean futures ended lower Thursday as sluggish new crop exports weighed on soybean futures. Soybean meal futures and soybean oil futures also ended lower. September soybean futures were 4 1/2 cents lower at USD8.56.

The EU pig market is once again heading strongly upwards, with increasing domestic demand and continuing strong Chinese export demand exerting upward pressure on prices.

Japanese and Ukrainian authorities have agreed on veterinary certificates, allowing Ukrainian poultry exports to commence to Japan, according to the State Food and Beverage Service.

European broiler prices have held steady over the past week, sustaining the more stable market patterns noted over recent weeks.

There will be a limited service on IEG Vu on Monday, August 26 due to a national holiday in the UK.

Bulgarian poultry production should expand again this year as the sector fills gaps in pork supplies, which have been hit by outbreaks of African Swine Fever (ASF).

The proportion of EU egg output which is being produced to enhanced welfare standards is growing strongly – but it still accounts for only around half of the EU’s total layer hen flock, according to latest European Commission figures.

The tightening range Winnipeg canola futures have been trading in this month suggests the market has absorbed most this season’s known supply shocks.

Ideas that Malaysia’s August palm oil production will fall short of expectations helped prices on the Bursa futures market struggle off an earlier dip caused by fears the country’s strengthening ringgit currency was hampering export sales.

Changeable US weather reports have kept soy values in erratic, mostly range-bound mode in the past week at levels surprisingly close to those seen this time last year – before the full extent of current surplus was clear.

There will be a limited service on IEG Vu on Monday, August 26 due to a national holiday in the UK.

Soybean futures ended lower Thursday as sluggish new crop exports weighed on soybean futures. Soybean meal futures and soybean oil futures also ended lower. September soybean futures were 4 1/2 cents lower at USD8.56.

Tensions in the US between farmers and government boiled over on August 21, with the USDA pulling its staff from a popular crop tour after a member of USDA staff received an unspecified threat of violence from a farmer not related to the tour.

There will be a limited service on IEG Vu on Monday, August 26 due to a national holiday in the UK.

The manuka honey processor Comvita, listed on the New Zealand stock market, suffered a loss after tax of around NZD7.6 million (USD4.8 mln) in the 2019 financial year (July 2018-June 2019 ) due to a fall in sales during June as a result of riots in Hong Kong, the company noted.

The Indian spot fob price stabilised around INR6,800 per quintal (USD120/quintal) between July 23 and August 21 at Nizamabad market.

Peruvian ginger exports fell by 18.6% in volume to 11,075 tonnes and by 8.8% in value to USD18.3 million between January and July 2019 compared with the same period the previous year.

Guatemalan cardamom exports increased by 49.8% in value to USD335.5 million and by 7.2% in volume to 21,190 tonnes in H1 2019 compared with the same period the previous year.

Cocoa and corn futures came under pressure last week as buyer support was hit by higher crop outlooks and jitters over the global economy. Markets for French butter and Indian guar gum also dipped, but prices for Spanish peaches and German pork edged higher.

The sixth sugar beet test for 2019, carried out on August 21, showed beet and sugar content growth close to the long-term averages during the past 10 days, keeping harvest prospects way above normal, according to data released by the Russian Sugar Producers Union (Soyuzrossakhar).

Suiker Unie will launch the 2019/20 beet campaign at its Dinteloord sugar factory on September 6 and at Vierverlaten on September 10, the company announced.

The second beet test of the 2019/20 season conducted at ISCAL Sugar on August 19 showed a healthy sugar content rise since the first test (compared to an abnormal sharp decrease in the same period last year), elevating it above the five-year average.

Raw sugar futures in New York ended somewhat higher as the market climbed to a nearly one-week high.

There will be a limited service on IEG Vu on Monday, August 26 due to a national holiday in the UK.

The UAE cabinet has decided to expand list of taxable products, among others, to any product with added sugar or other sweeteners starting from January 1, 2020.