With U.S.-South Africa ties in the deep freeze, it was notable to see the sheer size of the U.S. delegation sent to this week’s Mining Indaba in Cape Town – one of the most prominent industry gatherings and one of the few where the Global South gets a prominent voice.
The Trump administration’s famous Afrophobia seems (momentarily at least) tempered by its greed for minerals. It is reportedly walking ...
Category: Agriculture
Can Chinese Agricultural Tech Work for Kenya?
By Duncan Mboyah Many Kenyan farmers work fertile land close to fast-growing urban markets. But they are struggling as rainfall gets less predictable, heat stress rises and pests and diseases spread. For smallholders, a single ...
Analysis from Cobus van Staden
China’s New Beef Tariffs Shake Up Brazil Trade
Brazil is on track to burn through its entire annual beef export quota to China by September, researchers warned Tuesday, setting up a potential price collapse that could ripple through the country's most important agricultural sector. The alarm was raised by ...
Brazil Cattle Processing Hitting Record as China Devours More Beef
Brazil's cattle slaughtering activity for the fourth quarter shows beef packers boosted processing by 13.1% from the same period in 2024, according to preliminary Brazilian census bureau data released on Thursday. The tally, if confirmed, would take Brazil's total slaughtering to ...
Brazil Mulls Assigning Beef Export Quotas for Exporters Dealing With China, Official Says
By Roberto Samora and Ana Mano The Brazilian government may assign individual export quotas for domestic beef companies selling products to China, Luis Rua, trade secretary at Brazil's Ministry of Agriculture, said in an interview on Wednesday.
U.S. Soy Futures Pull Back From Rally as Brazil Harvest Advances
By Julie Ingwersen U.S. soybean futures fell on Monday on profit-taking after a rally last week drove prices to a two-month high well above $11 a bushel, tied to U.S. President Donald Trump's remarks that China may buy more beans from the United ...
China’s Palm Oil Demand to Drop as Cheaper Alternatives Rise, Analysts Say
By Bernadette Christina and Ashley Tang China’s demand for palm oil is expected to further decline this year as the country shifts to cheaper canola and soybean alternatives, palm oil traders and analysts said on Monday.
China Announces Plans to Stockpile Commodities
The Chinese government has announced wide-ranging plans to build up its reserves of both mineral and agricultural commodities. The move comes as the Trump administration announced its Project Vault, a plan to stockpile supplies of critical minerals, including lithium, nickel, cobalt, ...
Copper Rebounds on China Stockpiling, Stronger Risk Sentiment
By Eric Onstad Copper prices rebounded on Tuesday after news that China plans to boost stockpiles of copper and as risk sentiment rekindled among global investors. Benchmark three-month copper on the London Metals Exchange gained 3.6% to $13,360 ...
China’s Tech Push Reshapes Zimbabwe’s Tobacco Fields, Bringing Big Gains and Bigger Risks
Claude Kaharo stands outside his traditional tobacco curing barn in Marondera, Mashonaland East, watching smoke billow from the thatched structure. Black scorch marks covering the circular hut are evidence of the countless wood-burning curing sessions he has managed over nearly a decade of farming. Now 56, the ...
China Bans All Thai Syrups and Premixed Sugar After Safety Failures
China’s Customs Authority GACC has expanded its suspension on Thai syrups and premixed sugar into a full import ban, effective for shipments from Oct. 27. The move follows July–September audits that found none of 10 Thai export-oriented factories compliant ...
Kenya Breaks Ground for World’s First Geothermal-Powered Fertilizer Plant in Partnership With China’s Kaishan Group
Kenyan President William Ruto led a groundbreaking ceremony on Monday for a new $800 million geothermal power facility that will produce 100,000 tons of green ammonia and fertilizer annually. The project, a joint venture between China's Kaishan Group and the state-owned ...
Chinese Demand Boosts Brazilian Coffee Exports and Challenges Small Producers
Since 2018, São Paulo–based businesswoman Carla Guindani has been eyeing the Chinese market. That year, she was invited by ApexBrasil, a Brazilian government agency dedicated to promoting exports, to exhibit family farming products at the Shanghai International Food Exhibition. At the time, Guindani was head of a ...
As China Buys From South America, U.S. Farmers Reel From Soybean Slump Amid Escalating Trade War
By Beiyi Seow The U.S. soybean harvest is underway and in rural Maryland, farmer Travis Hutchison cracks open a pod to show how a field is nearly dry enough for reaping. But a decent yield ...