Coal remains central to several major economies because it is cheap and widely available, even as the energy transition advances. Demand is now concentrated in fast-growing, industrialising regions, splitting the market between mature economies phasing coal down and consumers where power and industry still lean on it.
Wheat, corn and soybean futures closed lower in Chicago on Wednesday, 8 July 2026, as traders trimmed positions before the USDA weekly export sales report on Thursday and the monthly WASDE update on Friday. September CBOT wheat fell 1.74% to $223.31 per tonne, corn dropped 1.97% and soybeans slipped 0.46%.
Retail prices for mustard, soybean and palm oil in India have climbed 10-12% year-on-year, driven by higher import costs and concern over a weaker-than-normal monsoon. As the world's top edible oil importer, India faces continued price pressure in the coming months.
Ukraine has begun its 2026 grain harvest with early yields up 56% year on year and wheat up 59%, according to UkrAgroConsult. Corn output is seen above 32.5 Mt and wheat near 22.8 Mt, pointing to strong export potential, though port strikes and rising rail freight cloud the outlook.
Spanish olive oil sales to the United States fell only 3% by volume to 77,099 tonnes despite EU tariffs of 10-15%, according to ABC. Total exports reached 574,677 tonnes for the 2025-26 campaign, up 2% year on year, as China, Mexico and South Korea absorbed the pressure.
India, once the world's second-largest sugar exporter, may stay out of the global market for two to three years as El Niño hits cane crops and ethanol diversion drains its surplus, according to Jagran. Exports have fallen from 6.8 million tonnes to about 800,000, and the country could become a sugar importer by 2027-28.
Live-weight pork in Russia rose 5% to 127 rubles per kilogram in a single reporting week, with retail cuts up 3-4% to about 289 rubles, according to Pravda.Ru. Higher feed prices, export restrictions and peak summer demand are driving the increase.
Indonesian palm oil production and exports both increased through April 2026 on strong domestic and international demand, according to Gapki. National stocks tightened over the same period, keeping the global vegetable oil market finely balanced.
The European Commission has committed to present a 2027 proposal to revise animal welfare rules for pig farms, part of its new European Strategy for Livestock Farming. Spain, the EU's largest pork producer and a leading global exporter, fears costly farm adaptations.
Brazil loses access to the EU market for meat and animal products when a revised supplier list takes effect on September 3, according to Estadão. Poultry could return within weeks, but beef may stay excluded until 2027 because of the long cattle cycle. Brazil ships about US$1.8 billion in animal protein to the bloc each year.
The USDA confirmed on Wednesday that China made its largest single-day purchase of US soybeans since November. The deal extends a recent run of Chinese buying and is read as a barometer of the wider US-China trade relationship.
Mexico now leads the global pork importer ranking with a projected 1.72 million tonnes in 2026, nearly double its volume a decade ago, according to AMI data cited by agrodigital.com. China, once the top buyer at 5.3 million tonnes in 2020, is set to import just 1 million tonnes as it rebuilds its domestic herds.
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