Today's World Food Trade News

World Food Trade News

Brought to you by The Essential Food Trade News Co.

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Major Headlines

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U.S. import prices fell for the second month in a row

However, this was weighed down by falling petroleum product prices and a stronger dollar, which could help keep inflation down over time. Oil prices fell 7.1% and the cost of imported food fell 1.6%.

EU & US target 50%-70% reduction in animal antibiotic use after recent regression

Antibiotic use in animal husbandry has fallen by more than 43%, just a few years after the European Union banned the use of these drugs in 2006 to promote growth. Between 2011 and 2020, 25 European countries saw a 43.2% decline in antibiotic use in livestock, while the United States saw a 30.4% decline in livestock. The FDA finally outlawed the use of medically important antibiotics for growth in the United States in January 2017. Instead, NRDC estimates that overall usage increased by 5.4% from 2017 to 2020.

Over 60% of Spaniards struggle to make ends meet

As inflation hit an all-time high in the summer and costs for everything from utilities to eggs to olive oil skyrocketed, Dynata's report on global consumer trends found that 60% of Spaniards said their country was already in recession. Supermarket prices have increased significantly in Spain since 2021. Carrefour increased its prices by 12.1%, Mercadona by 11.4% and Euroski by 9.5%. The products that rose the most were sunflower oil (up 44.4%), red bull (up 15.9%), ketchup (up 15.2%) and coca cola (up 14.3%).

The plant based meat sales boom is over

All hopes of a rebound in plant-based meat sales this year have been dashed amid mounting consumer pressure from inflation. The sector was hit hard. In the United States, the difficult economic environment is weighing on a market that began to struggle last year. After falling 0.5% last year, sales fell 0.4% in the 32 weeks to early August, compared to sales in 2020 increasing by a whopping 46%.

Container shipping rates crashing

According to a new Jefferies report, spot rates tracked by the Shanghai Containerized Freight Index (SCFI) is on a "rapid downward trend." Vespucci Maritime shows the index has fallen 33% over the past four weeks, making it his second-largest four-week drop since the SCFI index launched in 2009.

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Company News

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JBS USA division of JBS SA in Brazil has received approval of his $20 million settlement from Judge John R. Turnheim of the United States District Court over pork price fixing allegations. JBS USA paid over $57 million in settlements in this case. Other defendants in this lawsuit include Hormel Foods Corp. Smithfield Foods Inc. of WH Group Ltd.; Clemens Food Group, LLC; Seaboard Foods LLC; Indiana Packers Corporation; Triumph Foods, LLC. Smithfield Foods has also added more than $80 million of his to the settlement fund in 2021. To date, more than $120 million the case has been settled by the defendants.

BRF S.A. has announced that its production facility in Chapeco, Brazil is now authorized to export turkey to Mexico.

Tyson Foods market worth decreased by US$1.3b last week after the stock price dropped 4.7%. However, shares of Tyson Foods Inc. Cl A TSN, +0.60% inched 0.60% higher to $72.44 Monday, on what proved to be an all-around positive trading session for the stock market, with the S&P 500 Index SPX, +0.69% rising 0.69% to 3,899.89 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +0.64% rising 0.64% to 31,019.68.

US Foods Inc. and Sysco Corp., have each launched accelerated e-commerce initiatives to offer customers faster digital ordering. US Foods derives most of its $32 billion in annual sales from B2B e-commerce. US Foods plans to accelerate a mobile commerce and app initiative called Moxi sometime in the third or fourth quarter. The updated app offers faster product search, faster list management and ordering, and expanded product overview functionality.

Sysco serves more than 650,000 customer locations in 2021 and accounts for about 17% of the US $285 billion annual foodservice market, with 2021 sales of $51.3 billion. Six years ago, Sysco spent $105 million to acquire e-commerce platform his provider Supply on the Fly. Sysco customers can now order more than 170,000 products online or by phone. Today, food service customers can visit SyscoShop online to research and purchase items from our inventory of over 450,000 products.

ABP Food Group won the Meat Manufacturer of the Year award at the annual Meat Management Industry Awards ceremony and ASDA was voted Supermarket / Multiple Meat Retailer of the Year.

Blue Water Shipping has opened offices in Istanbul and Izmir, Turkey, which will have a local team of specialists handling industrial projects. The new offices will also offer sea, rail, air and road logistics services, as well as courier and parcel deliveries.

Next Level Burger, “America’s first 100% plant-based burger joint,” has raised $20 million to support national expansion effort.

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International Market News

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Beef

Half of western United States is experiencing a serious drought, forcing cattle farmers to send their herd to slaughter early, reducing the replenishment, which will inevitably lead to higher prices in over the next few years. Business closure and job losses are likely. Imports and export balances will have to adjust to satisfy the domestic demand.

U.S. and Paraguayan officials met in Washington this week to discuss ways to deepen trade ties between the two countries under a framework agreement for trade and investment that will take effect in 2021. "They affirmed the importance of the bilateral relationship, including working together to deepen engagement on trade and promote pandemic recovery," USTR said in a statement. The two nations discussed potential raw beef imports from Paraguay.

The Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) livestock chairperson, Brendan Golden said, "Beef farmers do not have the capacity to absorb the production cost increases associated with cattle finishing and factories must be stronger in the marketplace.” The IFA chair said the 22c/kg Prime Export Benchmark Price differential shows “there is clearly capacity in the marketplace to return higher prices and close this 22c/kg gap”.

The European Union is poised to sign a free trade agreement with Australia as early as February, and federal climate legislation now meets the bloc's stringent environmental standards.

Botswana, a top beef exporter to the European Union, plans to slaughter 10,000 cattle to curb an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease. The first major outbreak in two years forced the southern African country to suspend all beef exports on August 24. Annually Botswana exports about 9,000 tonnes of beef to the EU.

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Pork

Philippine Pork and poultry continued to drive the country's meat imports, which rose 7% at the end of August. The country imported 851.84 million kilograms of meat and meat products from January to August, compared with 795.59 million in the same period last year. Pork imports increased by 20.56% year-on-year to 464.84 million kg, accounting for more than half (54%) of the total meat imports.

Pork prices in China have been rising sharply for three months in a row — up nearly 15% in June, more than 25% in July and another 23% in August. That’s about four times faster than the rate of inflation for overall food prices. On Friday, the official Xinhua news agency reported pork prices are now up nearly 70% from a year ago.

African swine fever outbreak detected at two pig farms in Kerian, Perak, Kuala Lumpur. South Korea's agricultural ministry has issued a 48-hour standstill order on pig farms and facilities in the eastern Gangwon Province following confirmation of the country's second case of African swine fever this year.

Annual decline in European pork production is expected to reach almost 5% due to input costs, continued expansion of ASF and compliance with environmental regulations. In 2021, the EU exported her 5.4 million tonnes of pork and US$15.7 million worth of pork. This is down slightly from a record 2020, when demand for China's imported pork peaked. As shipments to China continue to decline this year, EU exports from January to June fell just above 2.3 million tonnes, down 23 tonnes from the previous year and down 28% to $6.4 billion.

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Poultry & Egg

According to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), the three of those new cases of bird flu (avian influenza) were confirmed in Alberta.

An influx of cheap Ukrainian grain and poultry is making it difficult for European Union farmers to make ends meet. Farmers in several Bulgarian cities recently protested the import of agricultural products from Ukraine. French poultry farmers have filed similar complaints, pointing to chicken imports from Ukraine more than doubling in the first half of 2022 and urging the EU not to extend the tariff elimination deal. The pace of grain exports from Ukraine surged 66% last month as the United Nations oversaw a deal to ensure safe passage from the Black Sea.

At Poultry Africa, Mr Peter-Bart Lichtenbeld, Sales Director at Vencomatic shone a light on why should international companies jointly enter the Sub-Saharan market and how European suppliers can tackle local challenges together. Poultry Africa is a biennial B2B international trade show, and is now in its 3rd edition bringing the Feed to Food concept to the poultry industries in Sub-Saharan Africa. The fast-growing market of Africa will represent 15% of the global poultry market growth and 12% of the global egg market growth until 2027.

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Seafood

A growing world population and increasing demand for protein is driving the global aquaculture sector. Innovations in aquaculture technology and smart farming methods are revolutionizing the sector and creating additional revenue streams. Market revenue is expected to reach $415.82 billion by 2030, from $284.63 billion in 2021, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.3%.

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Plant Based - Grains - Fruit - Vegetable

USDA surprised by September crop production report – prices surge on Soybean production was estimated at 4.378 billion bushels, down 3.4% from the all-time high of 4.531 billion bushels forecast in August and down 1.3% from 4.435 billion bushels a year ago.

South African stone-fruit production sends 15% of their plums, 11% of their apricots, 7% of their peaches and 6% of their nectarines to various Spanish receivers.

McCain Foods has acquired Scelta Products, adding the Netherlands-based producer of frozen foods to its growing family of delicious, prepared vegetable appetizer product offerings.

Exports of Chilean table grapes rose by 12% in the 2021/22 season to 602,232 tons, accounting for 31% of all table grapes exported from the Southern Hemisphere.

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Container Shipping News

From China to the U.S. West Coast, comparing the beginning of January 2022 to now, the container cost rate has come down 63 percent. It was at $14,000 and now sits at $5,250. On the East Coast, it’s come down 42 percent from a high of $16,000 in January to $9215 today.

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Movers & Shakers

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The Meat Management Industry Excellence Award went to Dean Holroyd, Group Technical and Sustainability Director at ABP Group and Young Manager of the Year, was awarded by Ben Lee, Managing Director of Soanes Poultry.

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"Always do your best, what you plant now, you will harvest later" Og Mandino