U.S.-China Trade Talks Set To Resume in Beijing On April 30
Two of the more senior U.S. trade officials, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, will both be headed to Beijing at the end of the month to continue the dialogue between the U.S. and China.
The White House also announced that Chinese Vice Premier Liu He will travel to Washington, D.C. on May 8 for another planned round of negotiations to resolve the ongoing trade war between the two countries.
What It Means for the U.S. Farmer: Talks between China and the U.S. have not resulted in much in the way of significant outcomes but the market is looking for concrete results. These meetings with both countries top negotiators, adds more weight to the talks.
Russian and Ukrainian Crops in Good Condition as Planting Speeds Along
In Russia, total spring grain planting progress stands at 14.7% complete, or 4.3 million hectares planted, which is nearly double at this time last year. Ukraine is around 93% planted, just about 10% above this time in the previous year.
Subsoil moisture for Russia has been more than adequate for the winter grain still in the ground, with only about 5% of the winter crop rated as “weak” according to SovEcon.
Local and official sources project that total grain production could rise to somewhere between 118-129 MMT if the weather remains favorable, compared to 113 MMT raised in 2018.
What It Means for the U.S. Farmer: Black Sea grain, particularly wheat, remains among the most competitive for export to the Middle East and North Africa. US wheat will likely become less competitive in the face of growing Russian and Ukrainian supply.
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