Commodity prices surge again
Commodity prices saw a surge in prices in the first week of May 2008.
Maize prices were up by 3.5% over last week, leveling at Rs.7410 per MT at the market yard. The prices are higher than last year by 6.5%.
Pearl Millet (Bajra) prices also moved up by 4% this week, to reach Rs.7700 per MT. Prices are 10.7% higher than last week and against maize the prices are higher by 3.8%.
Sorghum (Jowar) prices have also shown an upsurge, adding 4.3% to the rally, reach Rs.10176 per Mt at the market yard. The prices are 11.3% higher than last year and about 27% higher than maize at the market yard.
Barley prices have moved up by 4.4% over last week, reaching Rs.10140 per MT at the market yard. Arrivals in Rajasthan are reported to be good. The prices are also higher than last year by about 31%.
In order to tame the inflation, GOI has banned exports of some of the major commodities like Wheat, Pulses etc, but there is no indication that corn exports will be banned as India has produced a record crop of 18.54 MMT in 2007/08.
GOI has also banned future trading in 4 commodities, but maize is not on the list, though Soya has been included in the list.
Prices on CBOT remained high. May delivery for corn on CBOT closed at $243.45 per MT, while July closed at $247.70 per MT.
WASDE report predicts a lower corn crop in US
USDA has come out with the first report for corn production for the year 2008/09 on May 09, 2008. For the marketing year 2007/08 which ends Sept. 30, USDA has lowered their estimate of corn used for ethanol production by 2.5 MMT to 76.20. For New Marketing Year 2008/09, USDA pegged beginning stocks at 35.13 MMT and 2008 production is pegged at 307.99 MMT, about 7% lower than the 332.09 MMT production of 2007/08. Usage of corn in feed has also been lowered to 134.6 MMT in 2008/09, against 156.21 MMT in 2007/08. The corn use for ethanol purposes has though been raised to 101.60 MMT. Ending stocks in US are expected to be down from 35.13 MMT to 19.38 MMT.
World corn production has been put at 777.56 MMT, down slightly from the current year, but ending stocks are projected to decline 10% to 99.03 MMT – a 25-year low - primarily due to a smaller U.S. corn crop.
Dairy needs better genetics
Over the last few years, there has been a surge in demand of milk products in India and as incomes have increased companies have geared to provide value added products for those who can afford to pay. Though the milk collections have been good and growing, Indian farmers do lag behind in using animals with high productivity.
As the commodity prices have surged, it is getting expensive to feed the animals. This has also affected the cost of production of milk and the profit for the farmer. One of the easiest way to increase the productivity is using better quality feed, though which will be more expensive, but the additional production will more than pay for the additional cost incurred.
There were a number of trials that have been done by US Grains Council in the past, which indicate that high energy feeds play a role in increasing milk production of animals and also producing high quality milk (high fat percentage).
In the long run, though it is important that farmers make use of high quality semen that can now be imported into India. The high producing offspring will be one way to reduce the cost of production.
Amit SachdevCommodity prices saw a surge in prices in the first week of May 2008.
Maize prices were up by 3.5% over last week, leveling at Rs.7410 per MT at the market yard. The prices are higher than last year by 6.5%.
Pearl Millet (Bajra) prices also moved up by 4% this week, to reach Rs.7700 per MT. Prices are 10.7% higher than last week and against maize the prices are higher by 3.8%.
Sorghum (Jowar) prices have also shown an upsurge, adding 4.3% to the rally, reach Rs.10176 per Mt at the market yard. The prices are 11.3% higher than last year and about 27% higher than maize at the market yard.
Barley prices have moved up by 4.4% over last week, reaching Rs.10140 per MT at the market yard. Arrivals in Rajasthan are reported to be good. The prices are also higher than last year by about 31%.
In order to tame the inflation, GOI has banned exports of some of the major commodities like Wheat, Pulses etc, but there is no indication that corn exports will be banned as India has produced a record crop of 18.54 MMT in 2007/08.
GOI has also banned future trading in 4 commodities, but maize is not on the list, though Soya has been included in the list.
Prices on CBOT remained high. May delivery for corn on CBOT closed at $243.45 per MT, while July closed at $247.70 per MT.
WASDE report predicts a lower corn crop in US
USDA has come out with the first report for corn production for the year 2008/09 on May 09, 2008. For the marketing year 2007/08 which ends Sept. 30, USDA has lowered their estimate of corn used for ethanol production by 2.5 MMT to 76.20. For New Marketing Year 2008/09, USDA pegged beginning stocks at 35.13 MMT and 2008 production is pegged at 307.99 MMT, about 7% lower than the 332.09 MMT production of 2007/08. Usage of corn in feed has also been lowered to 134.6 MMT in 2008/09, against 156.21 MMT in 2007/08. The corn use for ethanol purposes has though been raised to 101.60 MMT. Ending stocks in US are expected to be down from 35.13 MMT to 19.38 MMT.
World corn production has been put at 777.56 MMT, down slightly from the current year, but ending stocks are projected to decline 10% to 99.03 MMT – a 25-year low - primarily due to a smaller U.S. corn crop.
Dairy needs better genetics
Over the last few years, there has been a surge in demand of milk products in India and as incomes have increased companies have geared to provide value added products for those who can afford to pay. Though the milk collections have been good and growing, Indian farmers do lag behind in using animals with high productivity.
As the commodity prices have surged, it is getting expensive to feed the animals. This has also affected the cost of production of milk and the profit for the farmer. One of the easiest way to increase the productivity is using better quality feed, though which will be more expensive, but the additional production will more than pay for the additional cost incurred.
There were a number of trials that have been done by US Grains Council in the past, which indicate that high energy feeds play a role in increasing milk production of animals and also producing high quality milk (high fat percentage).
In the long run, though it is important that farmers make use of high quality semen that can now be imported into India. The high producing offspring will be one way to reduce the cost of production.
India Representative
U S Grains Council
bluecross303@gmail.com
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