China’s Trade Rumors Confirmed—Confirming trade rumors, China has eliminated the 11 percent value added tax (VAT) on U.S. dried distillers grains (DDG). The move comes in the wake of President Donald Trump’s trip to China and is seen as positive for ethanol profitability because it will help increase demand for DDG in the country. It is important to note while this does lower the price of U.S. DDG for Chinese feed buyers, anti-dumping measures are still in place, and these remain significant barriers for U.S. DDG in China.
FSA County Committee Elections Begin—Acting State FSA Executive Director for Texas, Erasmo (Eddie) Trevino, recently announced USDA began mailing ballots Monday, Nov. 6, to eligible farmers and ranchers for the 2017 FSA County Committee elections. Producers must return ballots to their local FSA office by Dec. 4, 2017, to ensure their vote is counted. Trevino said producers must participate or cooperate in an FSA program to be eligible to vote in the county committee election. Farmers and ranchers who supervise and conduct the farming operations of an entire farm, but are not of legal voting age, also may be eligible to vote. Ballots include the names of candidates running for the local committee election. Voters who did not receive a ballot can pick one up at their local FSA office. Newly elected committee members will take office Jan. 1, 2018.
New Study Shows NAFTA’s Impact on Grain Exports- A new study led by the U.S. Grains Council and the National Corn Growers Association and conducted by Informa Economics has quantified the benefits of NAFTA to the U.S. grains industry. In 2015 alone, U.S. feed and grain exports totaled $18.9 billion, supporting $55.5 billion in economic output and nearly 262,000 jobs. It was also reported that 46,000 jobs and $2.6 billion in GDP may be adversely impacted at the farm, ethanol and meat production levels if this trade is disrupted. Read more on trades impact on the farm sector here and here.
Export Report—Last week recorded one of the largest ever commitments to U.S. sorghum with China purchasing 12 million bushels and bringing total commitments to 82 million just two months into the marketing year. China and Mexico also took deliveries of a significant 4.1 million bushels bringing total shipments to 23 million bushels. This maintains the pace needed to reach one billion bushels shipped to China by early spring 2018. Basis was steady on this strength. It should be noted Chinese buyers continue to express strong interest in sorghum for delivery beyond the 2017 crop year and producers should be mindful of future opportunities as they make plans for 2018 spring planting.