Buenos Aires | Reuters — Argentina’s centre-right government said Monday it was disappointed by the volume of soy stocks sold by farmers in the three weeks since it reduced the tax on soybean exports. President Mauricio Macri cut the tax on shipments of soybeans, the country’s main cash crop, from 35 per cent to 30 […] Read more
Argentine soy sales after tax cut disappoint government
Force majeure declared for CBOT soy shipping stations
Chicago | Reuters –– CME Group declared force majeure for all soybean shipping stations until further notice because of flooding on the Illinois River, a notice from the exchange operator said Monday. A majority of facilities on the river, which are delivery points for soybean futures traded on CME’s Chicago Board of Trade, are unable […] Read more
Dreyfus owner pregnant, plans maternity leave
Paris | Reuters — Margarita Louis-Dreyfus, majority owner and chairwoman of global trading house Louis Dreyfus Commodities, is pregnant with twins and plans to take short maternity leave following the birth due in early April, the company said. Louis-Dreyfus, 53, will continue as chair of the group’s supervisory board until the birth of the twin […] Read more
Floods close two Ardent flour mills
Reuters — Two Illinois flour mills near the Mississippi River and operated by Ardent Mills were shuttered because of flooding this week, the company told Reuters on Wednesday. Ardent, the largest U.S. flour miller, operated jointly by Cargill, ConAgra Foods and CHS Inc., said the mills in Chester and Alton will remain closed “until the […] Read more
DuPont cuts jobs in Delaware ahead of Dow merger
Reuters — Chemical maker DuPont said it would cut 1,700 jobs in Delaware, as part of a previously announced plan to reduce its workforce before combining with Dow Chemical in a US$130 billion megamerger. The job cuts in the state, which has been its home for more than 213 years, will take place in the […] Read more
Chinese group eyes indirect stake in Chile’s SQM
Santiago | Reuters — China’s CITIC CLSA Capital Markets will participate in the process to buy an indirect stake in Chilean crop nutrition and industrial chemical firm SQM, one of the world’s top lithium producers, the holding company selling the stake said Monday. Holding company Oro Blanco said in a filing with Chile’s securities regulator […] Read more
Subway to switch to cage-free eggs by 2025
Reuters — Sandwich chain Subway said it would stop using eggs laid by caged hens in its North American outlets by 2025, joining a number of companies that are going cage-free amid pressure from consumers and animal-rights groups. Subway, which already serves eggs laid by free-range hens at its outlets in Europe and eggs laid […] Read more
Saudi’s SALIC looking for land in Sudan for fodder
Dubai | Reuters — Saudi Agriculture and Livestock Co. (SALIC), an arm of the state-owned Public Investment Fund, is looking to buy land in Sudan to grow fodder, chief executive Abdullah Aldubaikhi said in an interview on Saudi-owned Al Arabiya TV on Thursday. He was speaking the day after the company announced it had signed […] Read more
Noble exits ag markets with unit sale to China’s COFCO
New York | Reuters –– Noble Group said Tuesday it has agreed to sell its remaining 49 per cent stake in its agribusiness to China’s state-owned COFCO International, exiting agricultural markets as the Asian commodity merchant seeks to slash debt and shore up cash. The $750 million cash deal will hand COFCO full ownership of […] Read more
Syngenta said talking to Monsanto, ChemChina, others
Zurich | Reuters — Swiss agrichemicals group Syngenta is in talks with Monsanto, ChemChina and other rivals but has not received a concrete takeover offer and is keeping all options open, chairman Michel Demare told a Swiss newspaper. “Given what shareholders expect for the next 12 months, going it alone is hardly possible,” he told […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
