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L’objectif recherché à travers ces actions est de «contribuer à redynamiser les territoires ruraux de manière à les rendre attractifs».

La délégation de l’Union européenne (UE) en Algérie présentera, lundi prochain à Alger, son nouveau programme de soutien au développement rural et à l’agriculture en Algérie, dans le cadre du programme Enpard, une initiative politique lancée par l’Union européenne en 2011 dans l’objectif de renforcer le partenariat entre l’UE et les pays du voisinage dans le domaine des politiques agricoles et rurales.

La commission européenne, faut-il rappeler, a adopté, le 21 novembre 2013, un programme d’actions pilotes pour le développement rural et l’agriculture d’un montant de 10 millions d’euros. L’Algérie, qui a rejoint en janvier 2013 les bénéficiaires de ce programme aux côtés du Maroc, l’Egypte, la Tunisie, le Liban et la Jordanie, est le premier pays à proposer des projets concrets qui ont été adoptés par la commission européenne.

Quatre wilayas pilotes, en l’occurrence Tlemcen, Aïn Temouchent, Sétif et Laghouat, ont été choisies pour le lancement d’une série d’actions visant à «promouvoir une agriculture durable et un développement territorial équilibré comme facteurs de stabilité et de progrès économiques et sociaux».

Selon les initiateurs du programme, l’objectif recherché à travers ces actions est de «contribuer à redynamiser les territoires ruraux de manière à les rendre attractifs, en facilitant l’émergence d’une nouvelle génération de Projets de proximité de développement rural intégré (PPDRI) innovants et générateurs d’emploi, et en favorisant la mutualisation des ressources et des moyens par l’approche participative et intersectorielle». La revitalisation des territoires doit permettre de concourir à l’atteinte de l’objectif général qui est «l’amélioration des conditions de vies à travers l’augmentation des revenus et de l’emploi en milieu rural au niveau de ces wilayas», explique-t-on encore.

Vers 13H00 (11H00 GMT), la tonne de blé progressait de 50 centimes sur l'échéance de mai à 164,50 euros, et de 25 centimes sur celle de septembre à 169 euros, dans un volume d'échanges très, très faible de 5 900 lots.

« Il n'y a pas d'élément directionnel », notait un analyste du cabinet Inter-Courtage, qui notait les « incertitudes sur la nouvelle campagne » et la méfiance des opérateurs comme des agriculteurs quant au résultat de cette dernière, après deux années difficiles.

Des petites incertitudes concernant la météo (sécheresse) en France, en Allemagne ou aux Etats-Unis étaient plutôt de nature à soutenir les cours.

Sur la scène internationale, « l'appel d'offres de l'Algérie en blé se termine aujourd'hui. La France est bien placée, les prix affichés étant compétitifs », estimait de son côté le cabinet Agritel.

Turkish millers imported at least 500,000 mt of high protein wheat from alternative Black Sea and European origins for April shipment, trade sources said Friday on the sidelines of the Turkish Flour Industrialists Federation Congress in Antalya.

Turkish authorities on March 15 ditched tax exemptions of a 130% import duty on wheat imports from Russia. Since then the Turkish flour industry has found itself in need of diversifying its origins. “Turkey needs at least 400,000-450,000 mt of monthly imports of wheat,” a trader said.

Furthermore, April demand has already been covered from Ukraine, Hungary, Latvia and Lithuania, according to millers.

At least 100,000 mt of Ukrainian wheat has already been purchased, according to market sources. On top of that 50,000 mt of Hungarian wheat was booked as well as 350,000 mt of Latvian and Lithuanian wheat. Turkish millers said they preferred the quality from the small Baltic states than Hungarian and Ukrainian origin and is very competitively priced.

Indeed, offers of 14.0% protein wheat from Latvia and Lithuania were heard by S&P Global Platts as low as $218/mt CIF Mersin for Handysize vessels for May shipment. Hungarian wheat can be purchased at a similar price on CIF-Marmara according to traders.

However, these prices are still at least $10/mt higher than 13.5% protein Russian wheat, meaning millers are seeing some margins and profits fall due to the shift in procurement.

Russian wheat export prices fell last week, hit by weaker demand from Egypt and Turkey and the rouble’s strength against the dollar, an agricultural consultancy said on Monday.
Black Sea prices for Russian wheat with 12.5 percent protein content were at $187 a tonne on a free-on-board (FOB) basis at the end of last week, down $2 from a week earlier, Russian consultancy IKAR said in a note.
Egypt, the world’s largest buyer of wheat and the top purchaser of Russian wheat, has rejected, on a preliminary basis, seven grain cargoes since introducing new import rules in January, according to traders.
Meanwhile, Turkey has put on hold purchases of Russian wheat, maize and sunflower oil from mid-March, although Ankara denies it has formally banned imports from Russia.
Russia exported 28.02 million tonnes of grain, including 21.69 million tonnes of wheat, between July 1 and March 29, the agriculture ministry said, down 0.2 percent year-on-year.
Domestic prices for third-class wheat fell 125 roubles compared with the week earlier to 9,825 roubles ($174.44) a tonne in the European part of Russia on an ex-works basis, according to SovEcon, another Moscow-based consultancy. Ex-works supply does not include delivery costs.
New-crop sunflower seed prices fell by 125 roubles to 18,075 roubles per tonne, SovEcon said, while domestic sunflower oil prices fell by 325 roubles to 41,750 roubles and export oil prices fell $5 to $705 per tonne.
Source: Reuters

Wheat prices in Paris broke new lows, as French wheat enters spring development in top condition.

FranceAgriMer, the French government crop agency, rated 90% of soft wheat as being in good or excellent condition as of the start of the week.

This is down a 1 point from a week earlier, but still implies strong yield prospects, although admittedly down two points from a year ago, when subsequent poor conditions in spring and early summer led to historic low yields.

May wheat futures were trading down 0.3% in early-afternoon deals, breaking contract lows at E163.25 a tonne.

The front month contract has only traded lower on one session since early December.

China keeps up with importing wheat from its central Asian neighbor Kazakhstan, as part of its One Belt One Road Initiative.

A third batch of Kazakh wheat has arrived at the port of Xi'an, capital of Shaanxi province, a major joint along OBOR, according to a statement on the website of the department of commerce of Shaanxi province, Reuters reported.

The recent imports bring the total of Kazakh wheat through Xi'an port at 5800 tonnes so far, which were bought separately by China's agricultural conglomerate COFCO and Aiju Oil and Grain Industry Group based in Xi'an.

China's wheat imports are expected to rise in the year to June 2017 as bed weather lowered production and quality of the domestic crop, according to analysts.

Le 25 mars, le traité de Rome fêtera son 60e anniversaire. Brexit, montée de l’euroscepticisme, remise en cause du libre-échange par Donald Trump, crise des migrants, impuissance climatique, etc., la construction européenne est à nouveau à la croisée des chemins : les Etats sauront-ils trouver le courage politique pour la relancer ?

Afin de dégager les perspectives de cette relance, la Commission s’est livrée à un exercice de prospective sur la base de différents scénarios d’évolution de l’UE à l’horizon 2025. En avant-propos, le président Jean-Claude Juncker veut faire de cette célébration « le début d’un nouveau chapitre » et positionne ce Livre Blanc1, paru début mars, comme la contribution de la Commission européenne aux débats qui devront s’enclencher pour que l’Union européenne puisse « forger son propre destin et élaborer une vision de son propre avenir ».

« S’inscrire dans la continuité », « rien d'autre que le marché unique », « ceux qui veulent plus font plus », « faire moins mais de manière plus efficace », « faire beaucoup plus ensemble », voici les titres des 5 scénarios proposés qui déclinent le concept « d’une Europe à plusieurs vitesses ». Une Europe de la Défense et l’Union de l’Energie constituent dans ce document les principales perspectives d’approfondissement de la construction européenne. Sur le plan économique et social : pas grand-chose à se mettre sous la dent. Et surtout, alors que la Politique Agricole Commune est l’un des piliers de la construction européenne de l’Europe : rien ou presque !

Les deux seules références à l’agriculture se rapportent à la difficulté de communiquer les résultats de « l’action positive de l’UE » (« les communautés locales ne sont pas toujours au courant que leurs exploitations agricoles à proximité, leur réseau de transport ou leurs universités sont financés en partie par l’UE. » p.13) et au programme Galiléo (« un système européen de satellite parfaitement opérationnel » grâce auxquels les agriculteurs pourront accéder « à des prix abordables et en temps réel, à des données météorologiques et de gestion des cultures ».p.23).

Saudi Arabia is to become a "major player in the corn market", thanks to a switch away from barley in animal feed which will spur a rise too in wheat imports, which also face a boost from drive to boost religious tourism.

The US Department of Agriculture's Riyadh bureau, in its first forecasts for Saudi Arabian grains supply and demand in 2017-18, pegged corn imports at a record 4.30m tonnes, a rise of 400,000 tonnes.

And imports appear set to continue growing thanks to a curb by the water-short country on domestic production of green forage, output of which reached some 4m tonnes in 2015, while the country is cutting too its traditional reliance on barley for feed.

"The main reason for the decline in projected feed barley consumption," seen falling to a six-year low of 8.0m tonnes next season, "is increased demand for processed feed due to its price competiveness and perceived nutritional value", the bureau said.

U.S. rice producers are looking to increase exports to Turkey after the government effectively halted purchases of Russian agricultural products, a major U.S. rice trade association said.
Last month Turkey put purchases of some Russian agricultural products on hold by imposing high import tariffs. Ankara denies it has imposed an import ban but Moscow has said the move is hindering a further improvement in relations, which soured when Turkey shot down a Russian fighter jet in 2015.
While the official reason for the hike in tariffs remains unclear, the Turkish economy ministry has said the improvement in political ties is not “fully reflected yet in economic relations” and restrictions on visas and obstacles for contractors in Russia remain.
Greg Yielding, a representative for the private rice association U.S. Rice Producers visiting Egypt as part of a U.S. Department of Agriculture trade mission, sees the Turkey-Russia row as an opportunity.
“Some Russian rice was going into Turkey and now there are problems, so we see it as an opportunity to sell more into Turkey,” Yielding said.
“Turkey is a huge market, and even rough rice goes to Turkey, which is paddy rice,” he said.
Turkey imported about 71,700 tonnes of paddy rice from the United States and 67,400 tonnes from Russia in the 2015-16 season according to a recent U.S. Department of Agriculture report.
Turkey is a hub between suppliers and neighbouring countries such as Iraq and Syria, with exporters estimating that roughly 300,000 tonnes of rice are being transhipped through Turkey, the USDA report said.

Hopes of rain dampened a boost to wheat prices from data showing that the US winter crop came through the winter in a little worse shape than had been thought, undermined by dryness in the southern Plains.

The US Department of Agriculture, in its first full rating of 2017 for the domestic winter wheat crop, estimated it at 51% in "good" or "excellent" condition, 1 point behind the figure that investors had expected, according to a Bloomberg poll.

The rating - which was also 8 points down year on year, if in line with the long-term average for the first reading of spring – was weighed by figures for southern Plains states where hard red winter wheat is grown.

Indeed, there appeared something of a divide between readings for hard red winter wheat states, with good or excellent percentage readings in the 30s-40s, and the higher figures from Midwest states growing soft red winter wheat, which has lower protein and is the type traded in Chicago.

In Ohio and Illinois, the top soft red winter wheat producing states, good or excellent ratings came in at 80% and 65% respectively.

In February of this year Turkey imported grain in the amount of $66,2 million

This is 12% less than in the previous month and 44% less than in February 2016, data from the Turkish statistical Institute (TUIK). The import of wheat, the main commodity positions in February fell to us $48.1 million, up 43% compared to last year.

Like last year, the largest supplier of grain to Turkey was Russia. Import volume of Russian grains totaled $33.2 million (-40% compared to February 2016). In second place is Romania – $15.5 million (+67%).

Domestic prices for Ukrainian milling wheat turned down for the first time this year. They were pressured by some slackening of domestic demand late in the month. A strengthening of the national currency against the U.S. dollar was another bearish factor, reports UkrAgroConsult.

Demand prices for milling wheat closed the week down on average UAH 25-50/MT.


 

En dépit de nombreuses réunions internationales depuis des décennies (1), on observe en Afrique, mais aussi en Méditerranée et en Europe, une montée de l'insécurité alimentaire et nutritionnelle, qui incite à proposer des solutions efficaces à la crise polysémique des systèmes alimentaires et de construire, au sein du cadre géopolitique dessiné par la Verticale «  Afrique-Méditerranée-Europe  » (AME), un réel partenariat agricole et agroalimentaire.
Rappelons à ce titre la Déclaration du Sommet Afrique-France tenu à Bamako, en janvier 2017 : « Compte tenu de l'importance de l'autosuffisance en produits agricoles et en marchandises, ainsi que des effets du changement climatique sur les récoltes, les chefs d'État et de gouvernement sont convenus de travailler ensemble en réalisant des transferts de technologies pour améliorer les récoltes et ajouter de la valeur aux produits frais, ainsi qu'améliorer les systèmes de stockage, de transport et de distribution. [...] Le secteur de l'agriculture constitue une priorité pour l'Afrique, non seulement du fait de son importance pour la sécurité alimentaire du continent, mais aussi plus largement pour son développement économique et social. ».

Les quatre figures de l'insécurité alimentaire
L'insécurité alimentaire dans la grande région AME se manifeste principalement par des conséquences dramatiques sur la santé des populations. Ses facteurs déterminants sont à la fois sociaux, économiques et technologiques.

Dans la macro-région constituée par l'Afrique et le Moyen-Orient, au moins 500 millions de personnes se trouvent en situation de déficit alimentaire et 400 millions en excès, soit près de 70 % de la population totale, avec le triple fardeau de la faim, de pathologies telles que l'obésité, les maladies cardio-vasculaires, le diabète de type 2 et de maladies infectieuses d'origine alimentaire, entraînant une mortalité et des coûts très élevés. En Europe, les maladies chroniques d'origine alimentaire sont directement ou indirectement la cause de la moitié des décès et plombent les budgets publics.

Prices of food crops are naturally volatile as their supply depends on unpredictable factors such as weather. While volatility is not a problem per se, excessive price movements in global markets can pose a threat to world food security.

AMIS Research Paper No. 6 analyses thresholds that are associated with the transition between different levels of price volatility. To this end, the study surveys a host of factors related to price dynamics of food crops. It isolates relevant determinants of volatility transition and discovers their change points using a statistical estimation and variable selection algorithm termed component-wise gradient boosting.

In doing so, the sutdy provides insigths into the causes of excessive volatility, which will ultimately help AMIS construct indicators to detect market risk.

Read the paper
Read a non-technical summary

Russia’s Agriculture Ministry has proposed cutting wheat prices for its restocking programme in the 2017/18 marketing year which starts on July 1, signalling stronger competition in the domestic market. The ministry, which has 4.0 million tonnes of grains in state stocks, buys grain on the domestic market every year in what are known as interventions. It said in a statement released on Wednesday that it would offer 10,300 roubles ($183) for a tonne of third-class wheat in the domestic market during the 2017/18 year, compared with 10,900 roubles in the current programme.

The proposal has been sent to the Russian anti-monopoly regulator for approval, the ministry added. At the end of last week, domestic prices for third-class wheat, excluding delivery, were at 9,950 roubles a tonne in the European part of Russia. The domestic price has been declining in recent weeks and is expected to come under further pressure due partly to a Russian dispute with Turkey over agricultural trade and to the need for Russian farmers to offload their stock before the new crop hits the market in the summer. The ministry did not say when purchases would start.

Its stocks are supposed to be used for boosting domestic supply when harvests are poor and to support prices in years that yield large crops. Russia harvested a record grain crop in 2016 and prospects for this year have been bright so far. The new prices for maize (corn) and rye, according to the proposal, will remain at the level of the current programme, while prices for barley will be reduced. In the new programme, the ministry also proposed setting prices for first- and second-class wheat, which Russia almost does not produce, to stimulate the production of high quality wheat, it said.

Grain freight rates in the Black Sea region increased gradually. The Handysize fleet experienced an increase in demand due to the intensification of agricultural products supply to the Mediterranean countries, reports UkrAgroConsult. The situation in the Supramax segment in the basin remained more or less stable. There were several new offers for transportation to Southeast Asia, but the charterers kept raising the rates in conditions of growing South American market.

According to the information service "Promyshlennye gruzy", contracts for transportation 30 KMT of grain from Nikolayev to Egypt were agreed at USD 15/MT, which did not differ much from the previous week. Agreements for shipping 30 KMT of agricultural commodities from Odessa to Tunisia were signed at approximately USD15/MT (previous week the similar lots were contracted at USD 14/MT).

Coceral raised the bar on forecasts for the European Union soft wheat harvest this year - flagging hopes of a particularly strong output recovery in France, where official data showed winter crop in good health.

The Brussels-based industry group, in its first forecasts for EU grains production in 2017-18, pegged the soft wheat harvest – the world's biggest – at 144.8m tonnes, a rise of 9.7m tonnes year on year.

The forecast is above the 143.9m tonne harvest forecast by Strategie Grains, and the 143.0m-tonne result that the European Commission has pencilled in.

'Strong recovery'

Coceral was notably upbeat on prospects for a recovery in output in France, the EU's top wheat producer, where the crop last year was "heavily affected by strong rains in June".

Forecasts for EU soft wheat output and (area) for 2017

Coceral: 144.815m tonnes, (24.304m hectares)

European Commission: 143.0m tonnes, (23.8m hectares)

Strategie Grains: 143.9m tonnes, (24.1m hectares)

The group forecast a "strong recovery" in France's soft wheat harvest, by 10.7m tonnes to 38.6m tonnes, well above the 36.2m-tonne crop expected by the commission.

The forecasts came as data from FranceAgriMer, the official French crop bureau, showed the domestic soft wheat crop rated an elevated 91% in "good" or "excellent" condition, if down 1 point week on week.