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INDIA – Rice export prices from India have hit their highest level since April 2021, benefiting from firm demand, stretched supplies, and elevated rates in Thailand. This comes at a time when supplies in India are also tightening after New Delhi decided to end its COVID-era free food program and replace it with a cheaper program. During this price surge,…
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ANGOLA – Angola’s food import bill jumped to US$2.8 billion in 2022 thanks to a significant jump in food prices in the international market, Statistics director of the National Bank of Angola (BNA) Joel Futi has revealed. According to Futi, food prices accounted for 40% of the rise in the food import bill while volumes only accounted for 13.6%. Rice,…
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SOUTH AFRICA – Norfund, the Norwegian investment fund for developing countries, is investing ZAR 80M (US$4.7M) in convertible debt in the expansion plans of Synercore Holdings, a South African food ingredient manufacturer. Established in 2016, Synercore has a specialty in the formulation and manufacture of food ingredients which it sells to fast-moving consumer goods companies, precisely in the dairy and…
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SOUTH AFRICA – South African packaged goods company Tiger Brands has appointed Pieter Craill as the Financial Director for cereals effective from 1 February 2023. Peter joins the company from confectionery products maker Aldor Africa where he held the position of head of finance and administration. He previously served as the Chief Finance Officer of Mister Sweet, a major confectionery…
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USA- Archer-Daniels-Midland Co, (ADM), a major U.S. grains merchant, has posted an annual net income profit of US$4.34 billion, a record 60% jump when compared to the same period last year. The Chicago Illinois-based company ascribed the record growth in profits to robust soy crushing margins and hefty global demand for crops in Q2 that ended Dec 31, 2022.…
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SOUTH AFRICA-Gavin Hudson has resigned as CEO of Southern Africa’s biggest sugar group Tongaat Hulett effective February 28 adding another blow to the company’s business rescue plan. His resignation follows the second postponement of the publication of the sugar company’s business rescue plan by a month according to the group’s business rescue practitioners (BRPs). Tongaat Hulett has been in existence…
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USA — The United States Air Force has moved to stop a Chinese company from constructing a wet corn mill in North America for national security reasons. The mill by Fufeng USA is a subsidiary of Fufeng Group Ltd., which is based in Qingdao, Shandong Province, China, is within 12 miles of a US air force base. Concerned about its…
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AFRICA-Fall army warms (Spodoptera frugiperda) continue to endanger the majority of Africa’s maize crops according to new research published in Frontiers in Insect Science journal. This study was conducted by scientists from the University of Minnesota’s GEMS Informatics Center, and CABI’s Dr. Roger Day, Global Advisor, Plant Health. Outbreaks of fall armyworms in Africa were first observed in southwest Nigerian…
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NIGERIA – Global maize prices will decrease by 8% while prices for wheat, which were anticipated to rise by 36% in 2022, will slightly fall in 2023, according to the Annual Commodity Outlook by AFEX. The report further indicated that the fertiliser index which rose by 66% in 2022, is projected to decline by 12% in 2023 as supply disruptions…
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KENYA – The government has issued licenses to private traders to facilitate the importation of 10 million bags (about 900 metric tonnes) of duty-free maize into to the country. Philip Harsame, the Agriculture Principal Secretary said that already licenses have been issued to 20 traders to import white maize and 50 to import yellow maize to reduce the retail price…
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