Reginald Conyers, a traveling busker, plays the trumpet outside a Safeway while people observing social distancing wait in line to enter the store  in Oakland on March 20, 2020. (Photo: Reuters/Kate Munsch)

Panic buying, lockdowns may drive world food inflation

World has ample grain and oilseed supplies, FAO and analysts say

Singapore | Reuters — Lockdowns and panic food buying due to the coronavirus pandemic could ignite world food inflation even though there are ample supplies of staple grains and oilseeds in key exporting nations, a senior economist at FAO and agricultural analysts said. The world’s richest nations poured unprecedented aid into the global economy as […] Read more



Photo: Thinkstock

Brazil cuts into U.S. soybean market share in China

Reuters – Brazil is expected to win a larger share of China’s soybean imports in coming months, hitting U.S. exporters during the peak marketing season for their most valuable farm product as the world grapples with a fifth consecutive bumper crop. China is expected to buy about five million tonnes of soybeans from Brazil for […] Read more






(Scott Bauer photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

China’s farmers switch to soy amid corn market reform

Reuters — Wang Zhonghai, a 49-year-old farmer in China’s top corn producing province of Heilongjiang, plans to switch 80 per cent of his land to cultivate soybeans this year as the government ends a near-decade-old corn price support scheme. China announced last week it will stop its corn stockpiling program and allow markets to set […] Read more



China expected to boost imports of protein-rich wheat

Beijing/Singapore | Reuters — Chinese wheat buyers are likely to step up imports of higher quality grains to meet a domestic shortfall even though total overseas purchases are forecast to tumble this year due to bumper production at home, analysts and traders said. China, the world’s biggest wheat producer and consumer, has seen output climb […] Read more

(Country Guide file photo)

Asia’s mills eye Canada’s wheat as Australian supply slows

Singapore | Reuters — Asian flour millers are looking at buying Canadian spring wheat for shipment early next year as supplies from drought-hit Australia are likely to remain slow, traders said. Canadian western red spring wheat is being offered at around $345 a tonne, including cost and freight, nearly unchanged from last week, while Australia […] Read more