Browse Data and Analysis

On March 6, 2023, China notified an updated National Food Safety Standard of Food Additive Vegetable Carbon to the World Trade Organization (WTO) under G/SPS/N/CHN/1271. The deadline for comment submission is May 5, 2023.

Wheat consumption in the Dominican Republic (DR) during marketing year (MY) 2023/24 (July 2023/ June 2024) is forecast at 460,000 metric tons (MT), up two percent from MY 2022/23. Dominican wheat imports are forecast at 622,000 MT, a two percent increase from the last forecast due to manufacturers’ international expansion plans as well as expected population and hotel, restaurant and institutional (HRI) sector growth.

Bite size local news, Post reports and activity summaries wrapped by ATO Hong Kong. In this issue: Local Food Traders Celebrate the Return of the U.S. Food and Beverage Showcase; Hong Kong Outbound Tours Bounce Back; Hong Kong Jobless Rate Dips to Three-Year Low; Hong Kong’s Inflation Rose 1.7 Percent in February.

FAS Manila forecasts MY 2023/24 milled rice production will rebound to 12.55 million MT because of increased government funding to the sector, which is expected to increase fertilizer application. FAS Manila forecasts rice imports flat at 3.6 million MT because of increased local production.

Rice export prices remained unchanged as higher domestic rice prices offset the depreciation of the Thai baht.

Wheat and barley production is expected to decline due to heat stress and insufficient rainfall. Post forecasts MY 2023/24 wheat and barley production at 800,000 MT and 220,000 MT, respectively, with imports at 2.2 MMT and 900,000 MT.

The full-scale invasion launched by Russia in February 2022 sent seismic shocks throughout the Ukrainian economy, with agriculture bearing a direct impact. It led to a breakdown of farming operations due to the fighting and shelling on farm lands, while crippling agricultural logistics out of the country, leaving farmers unable to sell their crops at reasonable prices.

Growth in Vietnam’s economy, including a rebound in tourism, is expected to fuel protein demands which will increase demand for feed grains in Market Year (MY) 2023/24. Post forecasts feed demand up to 27.7 million metric tons (MMT), a three percent year on year increase.

Corn production in 2023/2024 is forecast to increase slightly, despite a reduction in planted area, as commercial farmers look positively at 2023 average record prices of $625/metric ton (MT) at the wholesale markets.

El Salvador’s food manufacturing sector has been able to successfully adapt to a challenging environment and has provided signals of a rapid recovery, despite facing a continuous crisis generated by the COVID-19 pandemic and the supply chain shortages that increased the costs of raw materials and other inputs needed to produce food.

In 2022, the French food processing sector encompasses approximately 17,300 companies ranging from small family-owned businesses to some of the world’s largest multinationals.

Japan introduced an emergency program to induce early slaughtering of less-productive dairy cows in March 2023 as an incentive to reduce excess milk production and support dairy farm management.