- The Russian Ministry of Agriculture has proposed to increase the export quota for Russian grain valid for the period from February 15 to June 30, 2024, by 4 million tons to a total of 28 million tons.

- During the week of February 5-11, 499,800 tons of wheat were exported from the Russian port of Novorossiysk (compared to 340,300 tons the previous week). The major clients were Indonesia with 123,800 tons, Saudi Arabia with 66,000 tons, and Bangladesh with 53,300 tons.

- The National Association of Grain Producers in Bulgaria has decided to sign an agreement with the Bulgarian government to end the strike actions against the following support for farmers in Bulgaria:

  * For areas up to 3,000 hectares – 20 BGN per hectare.
  * For areas from 3,000 to 6,000 hectares – 10 BGN per hectare.
  * For areas from 6,000 to 10,000 hectares – 5 BGN per hectare.
  * For areas over 10,000 hectares – support only for the first 10,000 hectares.

- Purely Canada Foods forecasts durum wheat stocks in Canada by the end of 2023/24 to be over 1 million tons, compared to the official forecast of only 450,000 tons. StatsCan predicts a durum wheat production of 4.05 million tons, while other analysts note +0.3 to +0.5 million tons. Achieving the export forecast of 3.2 million tons will also be challenging due to extremely low demand.

- According to Anec data, in January, Brazil exported 2.3 million tons of soybeans (944,300 tons more than the previous year). China received 1.7 million tons of soybeans, accounting for 75% of the total. In January, soymeal exports reached 1.75 million tons (+22.7%), corn exports were 3.43 million tons (-29.4%), and wheat exports reached 685,100 tons (+5.2%). For February, soybean exports are expected to be 7.3 million tons (7.5), and corn exports are estimated at 1.7 million tons (1.2).

- According to CIARA – CEC estimates, Argentina processed 218,000 tons of sunseed in December (231,000 tons in December 2022). The total processing for 2023 reached a record 3.9 million tons. In December, 1.9 million tons of soybeans were processed in the country, with capacities being utilized at 32%.

- According to SEA data, India imported 1.2 million tons of vegetable oils in January (-8.4% compared to December). Imports included 783,000 tons of palm oil (-12.4%), 188,860 tons of soyoil (+23.7%), and 220,100 tons of sunseed oil (-15.6%).

- Egypt's state-owned company GACS has announced a tender to purchase at least 50,000 tons of corn with delivery scheduled between March 15 and April 5, 2024.

- According to experts at the SRCS, La Niña is expected to replace El Niño in the second half of 2024. The likelihood of La Niña occurring is 55%. La Niña is expected to boost yields in the United States and South American corn and soy productions.