8/16/2019 8:00am
Markets await crop tours giving a better idea of crop production estimates but we still have a ways to go before the Midwest harvest starts. Export sales numbers yesterday continue to point to soft sales. Weather forecasts continue to look good for crop development across much of the Midwest during the next few weeks also leaving a bearish attitude across the grain markets.
China vowed to counter the latest U.S. tariffs on $300 billion of Chinese goods but called on the U.S. to meet it halfway on a potential trade deal, as President Trump said any pact would have to be on America's terms. The Chinese finance ministry said the new U.S. tariffs, violated a consensus reached between President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping at June’s summit in Japan to resolve their disputes.
Tyson officials say a spark from welding during maintenance is the likely cause of a fire that damaged the company's plant in Holcomb. Company officials said the fire damaged a small area but affected critical operating systems. Tyson's president and CEO, Noel White, told officials work will begin immediately on structural damage. Other repairs, primarily electrical, will take more time.
Trump intervention triggered EPA's surprise biofuel waiver decision -sources - Reuters News
WASHINGTON, Aug 16 (Reuters) - A phone call from U.S. President Donald Trump last week ended a nearly two-month-long review of the nation's biofuels program, three sources familiar with the matter said, with the White House siding in favor of oil refiners over corn growers.
Trump gave Andrew Wheeler, head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the green light for the regulator to announce it had granted 31 small refinery exemptions out of the 40 applications, saying he wanted the issue off his desk, the sources said.
Trump's call triggered a flurry of action within the EPA, leading up to a surprise Friday afternoon announcement, after weeks of negotiations between U.S. government agencies failed to make progress in addressing farmers' concerns. (Full Story)
EXCLUSIVE-China set to deepen Argentine trade ties with bid for grains "superhighway" - Reuters News
This is bearish for US farmers long term.
BUENOS AIRES, Aug 16 (Reuters) - Chinese state-owned construction giant CCCC is preparing a bid to dredge Argentina's Parana River, the country's main cargo superhighway that takes soy and corn from the Pampas farm belt to the shipping lanes of the south Atlantic and the world.
