Authorities in Bulgaria have initiated the process of coordinating import licenses for the import of sunflower seeds from Ukraine. The delivery contracts are for the period of January to February. In the past week, the price of sunflower seeds with delivery to a factory in Ukraine has been between 330 and 340 USD/ton without VAT, and the latest deals for delivery to Bulgaria have a price range of 405 to 415 USD/ton.

Refinitiv Commodities Research has reduced its forecast for the 2023/24 soft wheat production in the EU by 2 million tons to 125.6 million tons. The decrease is due to prolonged rainfall in France.

In 2023, the production of grains and oilseeds in Poland was 35.2 million tons (-1% compared to 2022). The production of major cereal crops was 26.1 million tons (-3%), and rapeseed production reached 3.7 million tons (+1%).

In the first 11 months of 2023, Brazil's corn exports to China reached 8.79 million tons (40% of the total export of the South American country - 22.18 million tons). US exports to China amount to 6.5 million tons (30%).

According to Conab data as of December 16, 2023, the planting of first corn crop in Brazil has been carried out on 74% of the planned areas (+8% for the week and 82% year-on-year).

The devaluation of the peso in Argentina has significantly changed the situation for farmers. Fuel prices have increased significantly, while grain prices have decreased. The impact on global markets is expected to be short-term, and it is currently impossible to determine what would happen in the medium term.

Jordan has canceled a tender to purchase 120,000 tons of milling wheat of unspecified origin. The previous tender from the end of November was also canceled. 

In 2023, Pakistan purchased 1.4 million tons of Russian grain (294,000 in 2022), with a large part of the grain being paid for in UAE dirhams.