The Port of Constanta in Romania reported a 50% year-on-year increase in grain exports last year due to a surge in shipments from Ukraine and ongoing European Union (EU)-funded infrastructure projects, Reuters reported the port authority as saying.

Leading plant-based food company Upfield has launched a plastic-free, recyclable tub for its plant butters and spreads as part of the company’s aim to reduce plastic content across its portfolio by 80% by 2030.

There has been an increase in herbicide-resistant weeds across US farmland as they develop faster than new weedkillers can be developed, Reuters reported.

Rotterdam’s B20-VLSFO and B30-VLSFO bunker prices increased significantly at the start of January following the Dutch government’s halving of the rebate multiplier for marine biofuel sales from 0.80 to 0.40, Bunkerspot reported from data by marine fuel intelligence platform ENGINE.

Brazilian soyabean export prices dropped in mid-January due to weak Chinese demand, the start of the harvest season and other local factors, market sources told AgriCensus.

The Indonesian government has delayed plans for an initial public offering (IPO) of palm oil producer PalmCo, Reuters quoted an official from the firm’s parent company, state agricultural group Perkebunan Nusantara (PTPN or Persero), as saying.

Soyabean production in Argentina is forecast to surge by almost 150% in the 2023/24 marketing year due to optimum rainfall during the planting season, according to United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) data reported by World Grain.

Global agribusiness giant ADM has received funding of US$26.3M under Canada’s National Trade Corridors Fund for the expansion of its grain terminal at Port Windsor, World Grain wrote.

Long term solutions to resolve chronic water shortages on the Panama Canal could cost around US$2bn, Bloomberg quoted the Panama Canal Authority (ACP)’s water division manager as saying.

The Indian government has extended the lower duty on edible oil imports by another year until March 2025 in a bid to control food inflation, Reuters reported on 16 January.

Total transportation costs for corn and soyabeans shipped through the US Gulf route increased in the third quarter of last year compared to the previous quarter, while Pacific Northwest (PNW) costs for both commodities dropped slightly, according to a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) report.

A third of consumers check oil labels for sustainability claims, according to the results of a 2023 study by global agribusiness giant Cargill, reported by Food Business News.

China has made progress in increasing its soyabean self-sufficiency following the launch of a national policy to reduce the country’s use of soyabean meal in livestock and poultry feeds, according to sources quoted in a Feed&Grain report.