The Thai Excise Department implemented for first time ever, an excise sugar tax on certain beverages to reduce consumption of sugar and to increase health consciousness.
Nineteen U.S. exhibitors reported US$1.5 million on-site sales and US$3.3 million in projected sales at the Seafood Expo Asia 2017 show in Hong Kong September 5-7.
Fifteen U.S. exhibitors generated 134 serious contacts and achieved over $1 million in on-site sales and $20.8 million in 12-month projected sales as a result of their participation in Asia....
Israeli Customs services will be offline January 10-14, 2018, due to installation of a new computerized system. No customs services will be available during this period.
This first Korean apple report highlights apple market dynamics in Korea. Although production area has been growing in recent years, harvest yields fluctuate due to weather patterns.
During the first eight months of Marketing Year (MY) 2016/17 (Calendar Year [CY] 2017), Brazil became the leading soybean exporter to Vietnam, replacing the United States due to competitive prices.
According to the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), the cumulative rainfall for the Southwest Monsoon 2017 (June to September) was 5 percent lower than the fifty-year average....
Sugar production is forecast at a record 6.5 million metric tons for 2017/18, up 6 percent from the initial forecast of 6 million tons due to an increase in area, better cane yields....
Post forecasts that Romania’s walnut harvest in 2017 will decline by 3.2 percent from 2016 to 33,000 metric tons (MT), mostly due to unfavorable weather conditions.
All of Turkey’s wheat harvest has been completed and Marketing Year (MY) 2017/18 total wheat area and production are estimated at 7.8 million hectares and 19.5 million metric tons (MMT).
For MY 2017/18, total area and production levels for West Africa are estimated to increase 2.75 percent to 2.95 million 480 lb. bales assuming good weather and strong farm gate prices.
Post has further lowered its estimate for Australian wheat production to 20 million MT for 2017/18, due to continuing adverse seasonal conditions across most cropping areas.
Given competitive prices for imported feed grains (particularly for corn) and DDGS, Japanese demand is expected to remain strong in 2017/18, with corn imports again forecast to total 15.2 million MT.
The Philippines imports virtually all of its dairy products, especially milk powder, as domestic production cannot meet the country’s dairy requirement of 2 million metric tons (MMT) liquid milk....
China’s sugar production in marketing year (MY) 2017/18 is forecast to increase for the second consecutive year, with expanded acreage for both sugar cane and sugar beets.
