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Almost 5% of the Egyptian population suffer from food shortages, according to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization(FAO) Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative for the Near East and North Africa, Abdessalam Ould Ahmed. This was stated in a conference for the annual report on the State of Food Insecurity Near East and North Africa on Wednesday in Cairo.

“The political struggle and the crises in Iraq, Sudan, Syria, Yemen, and Palestine led to an increase in the rate of spread in food insecurity for 25 years and up to this day. Half of the efforts of these states to lower hunger rates were wasted,” said Ould Ahmed.

As per the report, the number of people suffering from chronic food insecurity in the Near East and North Africa has doubled since 1990 to reach 33 million. The rate increased from 6.6% to 7.5%.

The recent Syrian crisis left 13.6 million in need of food aid and agricultural support, of which 9.8 million are in Syria as well as 3.8 million refugees in some countries.

Yemen also witnessed an increase in rates of food insecurity, that reached more than half of the country’s population, with 24 million in need of aid from the start of 2015.

Ould Ahmed said the region scored the highest number of crises and instabilities in the world for the past few years, where more than 12 countries witnessed political turmoil at the same time. Add to this also the civil unrest, wars, and long-term crises.

The report revealed that the spread of food insecurity rate in Iraq increased from 8% between 1990 and 1992, reaching 23%, between 2014 and 2016.

In the Near East and North Africa, Ould Ahmed said that achieving development goals varies from one country to another. Kuwait and Oman managed to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger (one of the Millennium Development Goals) which was the scope of the World Summit on Food Security.

On an international scale, the organisation’s international report revealed that the spread of food insecurity rate has receded in the developing countries to 12.9%, compared to 23.4%. It has rapidly decreased in Latin America, West Africa and many Asian countries. On the contrary, it increased in unstable regions, such as Central Africa.

 

According to the April forecast of European Commission wheat yield in 2015/16 is estimated at the level of 3.37 t/ha. This is 3% higher than the previous month forecast and 4% higher than the last year estimates. The total wheat crop in 2015/16 considering the given yield is estimated at the level of  6.4 MMT, which is 13.5% lower than in the current season.

Mild winter and abundant rains in spring favor the conditions of winter wheat. However, some part of the crop was damaged with rains in autumn.

Every month, a Commodity price dashboard for the most representative agricultural products and consumer food prices is published. These monthly reports will be complemented with an in depth analysis on price developments that will be published twice a year.

Le Conseil international des grains (CIG) a rendu public, le 28 mai 2015, son rapport mensuel.
 
La production mondiale de blé est anticipée à 715 millions de tonnes (Mt) en 2015-16, contre 705 Mt attendu le mois dernier et 721 Mt rentrées en 2014-15. Le stock de la fin de la campagne de 2015-16 est estimé à 200 Mt (soit 6 Mt de plus que le mois dernier), sans changement par rapport à la fin de 2014-15.
 
La production mondiale de maïs est anticipée à 961 Mt en 2015-16 (l'USDA prévoit de son côté 989 Mt), contre 951 Mt attendu le mois dernier et 997 Mt rentrées en 2014-15. Le stock de la fin de campagne de 2015-16 est projeté à 187 Mt (soit 6 Mt de plus que le mois dernier), après 201 Mt à la fin de 2014-15.
 
La production mondiale de soja est attendue à 316 Mt en 2015-16 (l'USDA table sur 317 Mt), après 320 Mt en 2014-15. Le stock de la fin de la campagne de 2015-16 est anticipé à 52 Mt, contre 48 Mt prévu à la fin de 2014-15.
 
B.C.

Reviews the current situation and outlook for wheat (including durum), coarse grains (including maize (corn), barley, sorghum, oats and rye), oilseeds and rice. Separate chapters cover production, trade, consumption, stocks, prices, ocean freight rates and national policy developments. The analysis is supported by some 40 statistical tables.

http://www.igc.int/en/downloads/gmrsummary/gmrsumme.pdf?

Egypt's Gasc bought wheat at below $200 a tonne, including freight, for the first time in years at a tender which highlighted the rich supplies on offer in Russia now that an export duty has been scrapped.

Gasc, the grain authority for the world's top wheat-importing country, purchased 240,000 tonnes of wheat for $47.8m on Thursday, working out an average of $199.28 a tonne on a cost and freight basis.

The price was below the $205.76 a tonne, freight included, at the last tender, three weeks ago, and the $270-plus a tonne it was paying in December.

It was the first time in at least two years that Gasc has purchased wheat so cheaply, and reflects the extent of supplies on offer after a record world harvest last year, with a strong crop expected next season too.

Earlier on Thursday, the International Grains Council raised by 10m tonnes to 715m tonnes its forecast for global wheat output in 2015-16.

A season with no serious concerns so far

MARSBulletin_Vol23_No5.pdf 6.63 MB

Winter crops continue to be in good shape and no major
concerns for the spring sowing campaign have emerged.
The yield outlook is predominantly positive. Moreover
higher-than-usual temperatures since February and
generally sufficient precipitation levels suggest a highly
favourable start to the pasture season.

The customs duties on the exports of Russian wheat, which new mechanism to come into effect since July 1, will act only in the terms of sharp fluctuations on the foreign exchange market, declared Alexander Tkachev, Minister of Agriculture of the Russian Federation, on May 26.
According to him, if the USD exchange rates rise to the level of 60-70 RUR, the new formula for calculating of wheat export duties will enter into effect, which will begin cutting the grain price. It will work if the market collapses. But the Minister hopes that such pessimistic situation will not occur.
At the same time, A.Tkachev stressed that if the current foreign exchange rates do not change, the customs duties on wheat exports will not actually influence the market.

The production of fruits, vegetables and cereals and other crops is expected to increase when compared with previous year, the Turkish Statistics Institute (TÜİK) said on May 26.

“An increase is expected in the production of cereals and other crops, fruits and vegetables in the first estimation of 2015 with rates of 9.6 percent, 6.1 percent and 3.2 percent when compared with the previous year. Production quantities of cereals and other crops, vegetables and fruits in 2015 are predicted approximately as follows: 65.3 million tons for cereals and other crops, 29.5 million tons for vegetables and 18.2 million tons for fruits,” the agency said. 

The TÜİK has estimated that in 2015, cereal production will increase with a rate of 17.5 percent when compared with the previous year, and become approximately 38.4 million tons.

Wheat production was expected to increase by 18.4 percent to become 22.5 million tons, barley production by 27 percent to 8 million tons, rice in the husk production will increase by 10.8 percent to 920,000 tons and maize production by 5.9 percent to 6.3 million tons, when compared with the previous year. 

Despite the expected rise in Turkey’s cereal production after a drought year, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations has expected a decrease of around 1.5 percent in global cereal production, to 2.51 billion tons. 

Turkey’s cereal production decreased 12.7 percent last year to 32.7 million tons, due to harsh drought conditions. 

Vegetables production was expected to increase in 2015 compared with the previous year as well. 
The production of vegetables in 2015 has been estimated to be approximately 29.5 million tons, an increase of 3.2 percent when compared with the previous year.

When examining production of subgroups of vegetables, root and tuberous vegetables production were expected to increase by 5 percent, other vegetables not elsewhere classified with a rate of 0.6 percent and vegetables cultivated for their fruits were expected to increase by 3.2 percent. 

It was also estimated that fruits production will be 18.2 million tons in 2015, increasing by 6.1 percent when compared with the previous year.

The decline in imported wheat this year came as a result of the abundant supply of wheat by farmers compared to the last year, according to Tarek Hassanein, head of the Grain Industry Chamber at the Federation of Egyptian Industries (FEI).

Hassanein told Daily News Egypt that farmers were keeping a portion of the wheat production for their own use to produce bread. However, as the state has provided bread subsidies, the farmers provided all their production to the government, which amounted to an increase of 1m tonnes this year, compared to the last year.

Hassanein noted that this year the government significantly supported farmers in wheat prices, despite purchasing domestic wheat at a price much higher than imported wheat.

“Supporting domestic production would lead to the stability of the economy by supporting the agriculture system and the stability of the farmers’ production,” added Hassanein. “I predict an increase in production next season, with a big decrease in imported wheat next year, compared to the current year.”

Minister of Supply Khaled Hanafi said in press statements Monday that the ministry has succeeded in reducing the amount of imported wheat from abroad to 4.6m tonnes, compared to 6.4m tonnes last year.

Hanafi added that Egypt is the largest importer of wheat in the world because domestic production is not sufficient, which reached 3.7m tonnes in 2014. The production increased this year, as the ministry received 5m tonnes of wheat from farmers in various governorates.

The minister attributed the increase to the high prices offered by the government to the farmers, as the government paid farmers EGP 420 ($55) per ardeb (about 150 kg). The government allocated EGP 10bn ($ 1.3bn) to local wheat purchase

Une production de 1,6 million de quintaux de céréales est prévue cette saison agricole dans la wilaya de Relizane, soit une hausse de plus de 200.000 qx par rapport à la saison précédente, selon les estimations de la Direction des services agricoles (DSA).
Les prévisions de la campagne moissons-battage, lancée à la mi mai, tablent sur 1,25 million qx de blé dur et tendre, et le reste en orge et avoine, soit un rendement moyen de 12 qx à l’hectare.
Les terres emblavées s’étendent sur une superficie de plus de 136.000 hectares dont plus de 3.700 ha ont été destinés aux fourrages à cause des conditions climatiques ayant affecté la qualité du rendement, surtout en fin mars et en avril derniers, a-t-on indiqué.
Les incendies ont également endommagé, au début de mai courant, 8 ha de blé et 16 autres ha d’orge, a-t-on ajouté.
Le directeur des services agricoles, Abdelkader Kettoul, a signalé que la wilaya de Relizane a mobilisé pour la campagne moissons-battage plus de 286 moissonneuses-batteuses et 2.600 tracteurs.
La coopérative des céréales et légumes secs (CCLS) a procédé, quant à elle, à l’aménagement de 11 points de collecte et de stockage d’une capacité globale de 820.000 qx dont la plupart se trouve dans les zones à hautes potentialités céréalières : Mendès, Oued Rhiou, Ammi Moussa, Sidi M’hamed Benali, Ouled Yaiche et Zemmoura.
En outre, 33 camions sont mobilisés pour le transport de la production vers les CCLS de Oued Rhiou et Relizane.

In the season-2015/16, there is expected some decline of the export volumes of grains in the Black Sea region, in particular from Russia and Ukraine, declared Gennadiy Ivanov, Head of chartering/commercial department at Phaethon International, on May 29 during his report "Freight market of grain products in 2015-2016", within the international conference "Grain Forum & Maritime days in Odessa -2015".
According to him, in the Black Sea region, grain cargoes became the main indicator of the freight, so the reporting decline of exports will affect the freight index rates.
G.Ivanov declared that the annual increasing of sea vessels tonnage in the world totals 7%. In 2014, there were floated 46 mln tonnes of new vessels, in 2015 there is expected to reach the index of nearly 50 mln tonnes.
Also, he said in the beginning of 2014, the number of orders for new vessels significantly increased, in terms of rising of the freight index.
In addition, the expert added that China is one of the major players on the global freight market. In future, the share of Chinese tonnage will total nearly 60% of the global one, said G.Ivanov.

La Russie va introduire à partir du 1er juillet 2015 de nouvelles barrières sur les exportations de blé, plus basses que celles appliquées au début de l'année à cause de l'effondrement du rouble, mais très critiquées par les agriculteurs, indique un décret publié vendredi par le gouvernement.
 
Cette taxe flottante s'élèvera au minimum au niveau symbolique de 50 roubles par tonne (0,87 €/t) pour un prix du blé inférieur à 11.000 roubles par tonne (191 €) puis augmentera progressivement, précise le document.
 
Moscou avait imposé au 1er février dernier une taxe bien plus élevée, d'un minimum de 35 €/t, annulée ensuite le 15 mai.

According to estimations of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine, in the current MY Ukraine plans to export nearly 33 mln tonnes of grains, declared Oleksiy Pavlenko, Minister of Agrarian Policy, on May 28.
Since beginning of the current MY, and as of the reporting date, Ukraine exported nearly 32 mln tonnes of grains.
As a reminder, previously the Minister forecasted that in the current MY the grain export volumes from Ukraine will total 30-32 mln tonnes.
At the same time, according to the interdepartmental working group under the Ministry of Economic Development, the forecast of export volumes of grains and its by-products in 2014/15 MY totals 36.768 mln tonnes.

Dans un rapport publié le 26 mai 2015, le service des prévisions de la Commission européenne, Mars, prévoit une hausse des rendements en grains dans l'Union européenne en 2015, à un niveau supérieur à celui des cinq dernières années.
 
Selon le rapport, les conditions météo sont très bénéfiques pour les cultures d'hiver et de printemps, sauf dans le sud de l'Espagne et de l'Italie, à cause du manque d'eau.
 
Mars table en France sur un rendement en blé tendre de 75,4 q/ha, en progression de 0,8 % comparé à 2014 et de 4,8 % par rapport à la moyenne des cinq dernières années. Pour le blé dur, ce rendement serait en hausse à 52,9 q/ha, contre 52 q/ha en 2014 et 51,4 q/ha en moyenne sur les cinq dernières années. Pour les orges, le rendement s'établirait à 66,6 q/ha (66,5 et 63,7). Le maïs atteindrait 93,3 q/ha (103,8 et 92,5), le colza 35,5 q/ha (37 et 33,8), le tournesol 23,6 q/ha (24 et 23,2).
 
Dans l'UE à 28, le rapport prévoit des blés tendres à 59,3 q/ha (60,7 en 2014 et 56,6 sur cinq ans), des blés durs à 33 q/ha (33,6 et 32,6), des orges à 47,5 q/ha (48,9 et 45,1), du maïs à 72,2 t/ha (79,3 et 69,9), du colza à 34,2 q/ha (35,9 et 31,3), du tournesol à 19,8 q/ha (21,4 et 19,1).

DuPont, an integrated science company and the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), the research and analysis division of The Economist Group released the 2015 Global Food Security Index. Results reveal that food security improved in two-thirds of the 109 countries covered, with the average score rising 1.2 points.

The MENA region made significant improvements in food security between 2014 and 2015, increasing 2.4 points in its overall score due to gains in Affordability. This can be attributed to a combination of lower household spending on food and higher GDP per capita in 83 per cent of countries. The region also marked developments in Availability and Quality & Safety because of lower levels of food loss and increased access to high-quality protein, gaining more than 12 points in Food Loss Score, 16.7 points in Nutritional Standards, and 4.9 points in GDP.

The UAE has been the key driver for the MENA region’s outstanding improvement in the 2015 Global Food Security Index. The country rose 53.0 points from 2012 to 2015 to reach a current score of 75.6, while its GDP increased 7.5 points, the third highest in the region, ensuring higher levels of food security for its population. The UAE is also one of the five MENA countries to witness a positive change in its score in Nutritional Standards.

Amin Khayyal, General Manager, DuPont United Arab Emirates, said: “Government efforts and elaborate food safety programmes have resulted in rapid progress in global food security over the past years which have also contributed to the increased efficiency of food systems and improvements in the nutritional quality of food. The MENA region, in particular, experienced the largest regional increase, with its score rising by 2.4 points, ahead of Central and South America and Asia and the Pacific.

“At DuPont, food security is at the heart of our priorities. Across the globe, DuPont businesses – DuPont Pioneer, Crop Protection, Nutrition & Health, Packaging & Industrial Polymers, and Industrial Biosciences– are addressing food security with science-based innovations. DuPont is committed to driving food security efforts locally, sustainably and collaboratively with customers, business partners, governments and public-private partnerships to address these challenges,” he added.

Falling grain, sugar and dairy prices, sustained economic expansion in most regions and rapid growth in emerging markets and developing countries, have narrowed the gap between the most food-secure and the least food-secure countries.

Egypt bought approximately 3.9m tonnes of wheat on the local market from farmers since the beginning of the harvest season in mid-April, according to Minister of Supply and Internal Trade Khaled Hanafy.

A report by the Ministry of Supply and Internal Trade was issued to the cabinet stating that the local and imported wheat stock necessary to produce the supply of subsidised bread is enough to meet the national requirements until 22 October.

The ministry announced that the 3.9m tonnes of local wheat purchased since the start of the harvest season exceeded the targeted amount of roughly 3.7m tonnes.

The harvest season started in mid-April and the supply season continues until mid-July. The ministry report stated that they supplied and received local wheat amounting to 3.9m tonnes until 20 May.

According to the report, the Ministry of Finance provided EGP 8bn in order to pay the government’s dues to farmers for the supplied amounts of local wheat. The rest of the amount will be given as a single payment, as per the supplied amounts.

Previously, Hanafy announced that the price of supplied wheat will be paid immediately after sorting. EGP 10bn are allocated for wheat supplies.

Egypt, as the largest wheat importer in the world, is keen to provide its needs of imported wheat to produce subsidised bread for 5 piasters in order to fulfil the needs of low-income citizens

Algiers — President of the Republic Abdelaziz Bouteflika tasked the concerned administrations to "contain the rise in food prices" during the sacred month of Ramadan.

The Council of ministers, held Sunday under the chairmanship of President of the Republic, heard and debated two reports presented by Trade and National Solidarity Minister about the measures taken in anticipation of the next sacred month of Ramadan.

In this regard, Trade Minister Amara Benyounes said that the necessary measures have been taken to "guarantee the supply of the market with cereals, dairy products as well as red and white meat," said the communiqué of the Council of Ministers.

Measures were adopted, particularly to "strengthen, during the sacred month, the sanitary control, the monitoring of prices and fight against fraud."

Concerning the public mechanism of national solidarity for the month of Ramadan, it will benefit about 1.7 million people, in the form of food kits, financial aids and meals served during all the month of Ramadan.