Before the coronavirus crisis, 135 million suffered from acute hunger worldwide, Corinne Fleischer, the WFP’s regional director, told Reuters. The numbers have climbed since and are expected to soar further because of climate change and conflict.

The impact of environmental challenges is another destabilizing factor that can drive food scarcity and lead to conflict and mass migration happening.

“The world just can’t afford this,” Fleischer said. “We see now 10 times more displacement worldwide because of climate change and conflict and of course they are inter-linked. So we are really worried about the compounding effect of COVID, climate change and the war in Ukraine,” she said.

In the Middle East and North Africa, the impact of the Ukraine crisis has had massive repercussions, she said, underlining both the import dependency of the region and its proximity to the Black Sea.

“Yemen imports 90 per cent of its food needs. And they took about 30 per cent from the Black Sea,” she said.

The WFP supports 13 million of the 16 million people who are in need of food assistance, but its assistance only covers half a person’s daily needs because of a lack of funds.

Costs had gone up 45 per cent on average since COVID and Western donors have faced massive economic challenges with the war in Ukraine.

For oil-exporting countries such as Iraq, which benefited from the surge in oil prices following the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, food security is at risk.

Iraq needs about 5.2 million tons of wheat but only produced 2.3 million tons of wheat, Fleischer said. The rest had to be imported, which cost more.

Despite state support, severe drought and recurring water crises are endangering the livelihood of smallholders all over Iraq, she said.

— Reporting for Reuters by Amina Ismail and Charlotte Bruneau.

The post Acute food insecurity now touching 345 million worldwide appeared first on Grainews.

“The ministry has a plan to achieve food security for citizens and to address the global rise in food prices due to the recent crisis between Russia and Ukraine,” the statement quoted minister Alaa al-Jubouri as saying.

Iraq, a major grain importer, said it has taken urgent measures to secure strategic stocks of wheat and support a local food subsidies program.

Latest steps include increasing the price for procuring wheat from local farmers to 725,000 dinars (C$636) per ton for the upcoming marketing season, versus up to 560,000 dinars in the previous season.

— Reporting for Reuters by Moayad Kenany; writing by Ahmad Elhamy.

The post Iraq to create strategic wheat reserve appeared first on Grainews.

Wheat futures firmed on short-covering and the unwinding of inter-market spreads.

Chicago Board of Trade March soybean futures settled down 25-1/2 cents at $13.84-3/4 per bushel, but stayed within Friday’s trading range (all figures US$).

CBOT March corn ended down seven cents at $5.99-3/4 a bushel, while March wheat settled up 3-1/2 cents at $7.62 a bushel.

Soybeans tumbled as traders eyed outlooks for beneficial moisture in the six- to 10-day period in parched areas of southern Brazil and Argentina. Dry weather has threatened crop prospects in those areas, prompting several private analysts last week to slash their projections for Brazil’s soy harvest.

“We’re supposed to see a shift in the current dry trend,” said Tom Fritz, a partner with EFG Group in Chicago. “The forecasts are wetter by the end of the week, into the weekend (and) early next week.”

Traders are also squaring positions ahead of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s monthly supply-demand and quarterly grain stocks reports, as well as a U.S. winter wheat seedings report, all due Wednesday.

Commodity funds hold net long positions in CBOT corn and soybean futures, leaving both markets vulnerable to long liquidation ahead of the reports.

Wheat futures firmed on what appeared to be short-covering as traders exited long corn/short wheat and long soybeans/short wheat spread positions.

Ahead of USDA’s reports, analysts surveyed by Reuters on average expect the government to report the tightest U.S. Dec. 1 wheat stocks since 2007, and the largest U.S. winter wheat seedings since 2016.

On the export front, traders continue to await the results of an Iraqi wheat tender. Iraq’s state grains buyer asked tender participants to extend the validity of their offers until Jan. 13. The initial deadline was Jan. 3. The wheat can be sourced optionally from the U.S., Canada or Australia, traders said.

— Reporting for Reuters by Julie Ingwersen; additional reporting by Michael Hogan in Hamburg and Naveen Thukral in Singapore.

The post U.S. grains: Soy, corn sag on South American weather outlooks appeared first on Grainews.

Losses hit markets after a U.S. air strike in Iraq killed Iran’s most prominent military commander, rattling traders of products from agricultural futures to equities.

The strike temporarily overshadowed expectations for increased Chinese buying of U.S. pork. China, the world’s largest pork consumer, committed to buying more U.S. farm good as part of a Phase 1 trade deal the countries struck last month. The deal has not yet been signed, though, and details have not been announced.

Traders are paying close attention to Chinese purchases because China is facing a meat shortage caused by a fatal pig disease that has decimated its herd. The disease, African swine fever, has also infected hogs in other parts of Asia and Europe, including Bulgaria.

China bought 9,741 tonnes of U.S. pork for delivery in 2020 from Dec. 20 to 26 and also canceled purchases of 13,258 tonnes for delivery in 2019, the USDA said in a weekly report. Shipments over the same period were 10,404 tonnes, the lowest since late October.

“The hog market anymore is, ‘Let’s see what weekly export sales and shipments are,'” a commodities broker said. “For a holiday week, they were respectable.”

Most actively traded February lean hog futures dropped the daily three-cent limit to 68.55 cents/lb. at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (all figures US$). The contract reached its lowest price since Dec. 12, a day after touching a seven-week high. The CME on Monday will temporarily expand the market’s daily limit to 4.5 cents.

Selling also hit beef markets, with most actively traded February live cattle futures falling 1.05 cents to 124.725 cents/lb. at the CME. March feeder cattle futures slid 1.05 cents to 142.675 cents/lb.

U.S. supplies of the livestock are ample. Meat packers slaughtered an estimated 122,000 cattle, up from 119,000 head a year earlier, and 493,000 hogs, up from 478,000 a year ago, according to USDA.

In the cash market for pork, prices increased for carcasses and hams, but weakened for loins, butts and ribs, USDA said.

— Tom Polansek reports on agriculture and ag commodities for Reuters from Chicago.

The post U.S. livestock: Hogs limit down on profit-taking, Middle East tensions appeared first on Grainews.

Naeem al-Maksousi was replaced by Hassanein Mahdi Elwan, a document reviewed by Reuters showed.

The reason for the replacement, which comes after a week of unrest in Iraq in which more than 100 people have been killed, was not clear.

A government source told Reuters the move was routine, but a Middle East grains trader with close knowledge of the Iraqi market linked the change to the current protests over living conditions.

“The government has to make some changes with all what is happening in the country,” said the trader, who declined to be identified.

The unrest in Iraq represents the biggest security and political challenge for Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi’s government since it took power a year ago.

Iraq’s grain board is responsible for billions of dollars worth of wheat and rice purchases each year to supply the country’s massive food rationing program. Maksousi has headed the organization since 2018.

The state buyer falls under the trade ministry and holds regular international purchasing tenders to import wheat and rice for the rationing program, which covers flour, cooking oil, rice, sugar and baby milk formula. The program was first created in 1991 to combat U.N. economic sanctions.

Iraqis have taken to the streets in the last six days to protest poor living conditions which they blame on what they see as corrupt leaders.

— Reporting for Reuters by Moayed Kenany in Baghdad and Maha El Dahan in Dubai.

The post Iraq replaces state grain agency’s chief appeared first on Grainews.

SALIC, an arm of the country’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), said it was also looking to expand its investments in the Black Sea region, which already includes almost 114,000 acres of land in western Ukraine.

“We are considering many opportunities and Iraq is definitely on the list,” newly appointed managing director Khaled al-Aboodi told Reuters.

Iraq on Wednesday received pledges of US$30 billion, mostly in credit facilities and investment from allies after a major donor conference in Kuwait.

Amongst the opportunities on display for investors during the event were four million dunums (about 988,000 acres) of agricultural land, Iraqi agriculture ministry spokesman Hameed al-Nayef said.

“Agricultural land that will be offered is across Iraq and investors should choose what crops to grow but we are giving priority to strategic crops like wheat, barley, corn, sesame and rice,” he said.

The mechanism for investment in Iraqi farmland and terms will be up for negotiations with interested firms.

Aboodi said SALIC was not at the Kuwait conference but that, “as time goes by we will look more closely,” at Iraqi farmland.

Saudi Arabia began scaling back its domestic wheat-growing program in 2008, planning to rely completely on imports by 2016 to save water.

SALIC’s agricultural investments include farmland, grain silos and terminals, as part of Saudi Arabia’s food security drive. Its holdings in Canada include a joint-venture stake with Bunge in grain handler G3, the former Canadian Wheat Board.

Iraq, itself a major wheat and rice importer, has seen its most fertile province, Nineveh, lose production of strategic crops after Islamic State took over.

Iraq declared victory over Islamic State in December, having taken back all territory the militants captured in 2014 and 2015.

Industry sources said there were investment opportunities in Mosul and some western areas close to the Euphrates and Tigris rivers.

SALIC also said it was looking to grow its investments in the Black Sea region. “The Black Sea is a strategic place to look at given the attractive farming conditions and proximity to Saudi,” Aboodi said.

In October, SALIC set up a five-billion riyal (C$1.67 billion) joint venture with UAE agricultural firm Al Dahra to invest in the 10 countries across the Black Sea region.

— Reporting for Reuters by Maha El Dahan; additional reporting by Moayed Kenany in Baghdad.

The post G3 co-owner SALIC looking at Iraq farmland appeared first on Grainews.

Chart-based selling accelerated as prices slipped below the prior day’s two-month low, more than offsetting supportive news of a large export sale to Iraq and a government report showing the already planted U.S. winter wheat crop was in poorer shape than expected.

“This drop (in wheat) is more technical in nature than anything in the news,” said Jim Gerlach, president of A/C Trading.

“We’re down even though we had an export announcement and a lower-than-expected first rating report,” Gerlach said, citing two supportive fundamental factors.

Corn followed wheat downward as harvesting of a bumper U.S. crop progressed, while soybeans ended near unchanged.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on Tuesday confirmed private sales of 100,000 tonnes of hard red winter wheat to Iraq.

On Monday, the department said 52 per cent of the U.S. wheat crop was in good to excellent condition as of Sunday, well behind market forecasts.

Actively traded Chicago Board Of Trade December wheat fell 6-1/4 cents, or 1.4 per cent, to $4.18-1/2 a bushel after hitting a contract low of $4.16-1/4 (all figures US$). The December 2017 through March 2019 contracts all posted new contract lows.

December K.C. hard red winter wheat hit a contract low of $4.13-1/2 a bushel and settled down 5-1/4 cents, or 1.2 per cent, at $4.16-1/2 a bushel. December 2017 to May 2019 all posted new contract lows.

CBOT December corn fell 3 cents, or 0.9 per cent, to $3.45-3/4 a bushel, a one-week low.

January soybeans gained 1/4 cent to $9.84-3/4 a bushel and held support at its 200-day moving average around $9.81-1/2.

USDA said 54 per cent of the corn crop was harvested as of Sunday, ahead of market expectations, while 83 per cent of the soybean crop has been harvested, in line with analysts’ expectations.

— Reporting for Reuters by Karl Plume in Chicago; additional reporting by Colin Packham in Sydney and Sybille de La Hamaide in Paris.

The post U.S. grains: Wheat falls to contract lows on technical selling appeared first on Grainews.

The grain board is responsible for purchasing billions of dollars worth of commodities internationally and from Iraqi farmers to be used in the nationwide ration program, making it one of the world’s biggest importers of wheat and rice.

A ministry investigation disclosed that Hamdani, the silo manager of Khan Dhari in western Baghdad, and 15 other employees were implicated in “forging transportation documents” for wheat cargoes, the statement said.

The move comes three months after acting Trade Minister Mohammed al-Sudani sacked the head of the grain board and six other officials over graft allegations.

“Investigations into other silos in Baghdad, Basra and Samawa are ongoing,” the statement added.

Several trade ministry officials have faced corruption allegations in the past, and four ministry security guards were arrested for killing a ministry media adviser in September with a bomb. They are awaiting trial.

Reforming the ministry is a key test for Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, who has promised to tackle corruption in a political system which doles out positions along ethnic and sectarian lines, creating powerful patronage networks.

— Reporting for Reuters by Ahmed Rasheed.

CORRECTION from Reuters, Feb. 20, 2016: A spokesman for Iraq’s grain board has clarified that the former, not current, chief is to be investigated in the case in question.

The post Ex-Iraq grain board chief to be investigated in graft case appeared first on Grainews.

Islamic State, the breakaway al Qaeda group, which declared an Islamic caliphate across parts of Syria and Iraq last summer, has seized fertile areas and controls territory that normally produces significant quantities of Iraq’s wheat crop.

Saad al Hamdinee, general manager, Grain Board of Iraq, told Reuters the Iraqi government had taken control of grain facilities in areas including the town of al-Alam, which produced 60,000 tonnes, and a site in the northern Iraqi city of Samarra, which produced around 120,000 tonnes of grain.

“When the terrorists leave any area they try to destroy the infrastructure there,” he said on the sidelines of a grains conference in London.

“All the wheat in the silos — we could not make any use of it because they are destroyed,” he said via a translator.

Hamdinee said Iraqi authorities aimed to salvage facilities whenever it was possible.

“For example a silo in Tikrit has been destroyed in a way we can’t rebuild it again,” he said.

Al-Alam is close to Tikrit, which was the home city of executed former president Saddam Hussein.

Hamdinee had no data on the total amount of grain Islamic State had under its control.

“We have several provinces that are beyond the control of the government under the control of a terrorist organisation. We shall take over them,” he said.

Wheat production

He said Iraq expects to produce 3.5 million tonnes of wheat this year as the country attempts to boost output.

“This year in particular our expectation of local production of wheat is 3.5 million tonnes,” Hamdinee told the International Grains Council (IGC) conference.

He said this was “in accordance to our plans put in place over the last two years.”

Hamdinee said Iraq still expected to import 1 million tonnes of wheat this year, in line with the previous year, which will be blended with domestic production.

“We need to import because the bread they use to bake in Iraq needs high gluten. Our wheat is low gluten,” he said.

The IGC has forecast Iraq’s wheat imports in the 2015-16 season at 3.4 million tonnes, versus 2.7 million in 2014-15. The IGC forecast wheat production at two million tonnes in 2015-16 versus three million in 2014-15.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture put consumption at 6.3 million tonnes in 2015-16, down slightly from 6.5 million in 2014-15.

Hamdinee said its production numbers did not “represent all provinces of Iraq” due to the control of areas by Islamic State.

“When we re-control these areas, the figures will be up,” he said.

Hamdinee said Iraq’s grain board normally imported wheat from the U.S., Australia, Canada, Russia and Romania, while it imported rice from South America, the United States, India, Pakistan and Thailand.

— Jonathan Saul reports for Reuters from London, England.

The post Iraq recaptures some grain silos seized by Islamic State appeared first on Grainews.

Consumption of water in the volatile region with rising populations was already at unsustainable levels in many areas hit by record-low rainfall and drought, but wars have pushed systems “close to the breaking point,” the aid agency said.

Miilitants in Syria, Iraq and Gaza have also used access to water and electricity supplies as “tactical weapons or as bargaining chips,” the ICRC said in a report.

“Heavy fighting and direct targeting have destroyed water pipes and power lines, leaving this vital resource away from hundreds of millions of people that are at great risk of water-borne diseases,” said Robert Mardini, head of ICRC operations for North Africa and the Middle East.

Sanitation often got a low priority during the fighting, the ICRC said.

“It is a ‘ticking time bomb’ in terms of its impact on the general environment, water resources (surface and groundwater), and by extension, to human health,” said Michael Talhami, ICRC regional water and habitat advisor.

Gaza’s only power plant was damaged during the 2014 war between Israel and Palestinian militants. The Gaza Company for Generating Electricity said an Israeli tank shell hit the main fuel tanks, taking out almost all capacity.

“Leakages everywhere”

In Syria, now in a fifth year of war, drought has greatly reduced wheat production, meaning higher imports, the ICRC said.

Areas around the capital Damascus are hard-hit, with some systems losing more water to leaks than they are able to deliver, the report said. “The network is severely damaged in every corner of the city, so you have leakages everywhere.”

Syria’s two main waste-water treatment plants, for Aleppo and Damascus, are virtually destroyed, according to the ICRC which helps disinfect nearly 80 percent of the country’s water.

“One of the greatest concerns is that untreated waste-water might seep into local aquifers, thereby contaminating water supplies and leaving an already vulnnerable population more susceptible to water-borne diseases,” it said.

Water scarcity is a pressing problem in Yemen, the Arab world’s poorest country that has descended into civil war, and where the water table is dropping every year, it said.

“In Yemen, it’s foreseen that by 2025 Sana’a the capital will have no more water.”

— Stephanie Nebehay reports on United Nations agencies and aid programs for Reuters from Geneva.

The post Fighters target vital water facilities across Middle East appeared first on Grainews.