United States Agriculture & Food insights

Speculators held on to bullish bets in Chicago corn and soybeans last week in hopes that U.S. talks with trading partners might progress, potentially stimulating U.S. grain exports. U.S. farmers are off to an efficient start on spring planting and crops in South America have good prospects, neither of which are particularly price supportive. But market uncertainty remains sufficiently elevated as nothing concrete has emerged yet on the U.S. trade negotiation front. Money managers have held a net long position in CBOT corn futures and options since November. In the week ended April 22, they trimmed that position to 112,805 contracts from 124,573 in the previous week. The move was interesting because it included the largest weekly addition of gross short positions in six months. However, a sizable number of gross longs also entered the picture, suggesting mixed sentiment. Both longs and shorts were also added in soybeans, but bulls had the edge. Money managers increased their ...

Core Tip: Foreign media reported on April 27: As of the week of April 25, 2025, global oilseed prices fluctuated, among which US soybean prices rose, as the market expected the easing of Sino-US trade tensions, and countries such as Japan and Indonesia considered increasing imports of US soybeans; Canadian rapeseed hit a 16-month high due to tight supply and strong demand. However, South American soybean prices fell, as the easing of trade conflicts means that South America will face more intense competition from the United States. In the future, the market will continue to pay attention to Trump's tariff policy and any signs of the launch of trade negotiations between China and the United States, as well as the impact of weather in the Midwest on spring planting and crop growth.

According to German media Mundus Agri, the latest data from the International Nut and Dried Fruit Council (INC) shows that global pistachio production increased by 9.1% in the 2024/25 season, with Türkiye's record production contributing greatly. Türkiye's production surged 130.8% Despite a significant decline in production in the United States, Spain and Italy, global pistachio production still achieved growth in the 2024/25 season, one of the important reasons being the bumper harvest in Turkey. Data shows that the total global production of in-shell pistachios this season reached 1.168 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 9.1%. Combined with the 163,900 tons of carryover inventory from the 2023/24 season, the total supply this season reached 1.332 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 5.7%. The United States usually contributes about half of the world's production, but this season is a "bad year" for the United States, with production falling 25.7% year-on-year to 503,700 tons. Spain's production fell 25% to 4,500 tons, and Italy's production fell sharply by 31.7% to 2,800 tons. Although Spain is expected to harvest a record 9,000 tons in the 2025/26 season, the market is concerned about the supply of the European Union due to geopolitical tensions - the production within the European Union is far from meeting demand, and there has been a significant price increase this season. Iran's production was 200,000 tons, up 19% year-on-year, exceeding market expectations, but the extremely hot and dry weather resulted in a high proportion of small fruits and a large number of closed fruits. Turkey set a record with 415,500 tons of shelled fruit production, up 130.8% year-on-year. It is reported that the surge in demand for chocolate in Dubai in the first few months of the new production season has driven Turkey's domestic consumption to increase by 40% year-on-year. Iran's prices hit a turning point Iranian pistachio prices have been rising for several months, but in mid-March the trend reversed. Export prices for different varieties fell by 0.20-0.35 EUR/kg, with the current offer price for Kale Ghuchi variety 22-24 sized at 8.54 EUR/kg (FOB Iran). European traders reported strong demand, with a significant increase in inquiries since March. Some suppliers had no stock left before mid-to-late May. The delivery price in the Valencia market in Spain was: A-grade shelled pistachios were quoted at 35.80 euros/kg (EXW), and B-grade pistachios were quoted at 34.80 euros/kg. Image source: Pixabay 2025 International Fruit and Vegetable Report All rights reserved. Please contact International Fruit and Vegetable Report for permission and indicate the source as International Fruit and Vegetable Report.