world Briefs
WEATHER
LONDON, U.K. (Reuters) — Global economic losses from drought are likely to reach more than C$10 billion in the next few months as the El Nino weather pattern intensifies, broker Aon Benfield said.
Total economic losses from drought in the United States are likely to reach the equivalent of at least $4 billion, mainly due to agricultural damage in California, Aon Benfield said in its monthly catastrophe report.
“As we continue to see the prospect of El Nino becoming one of the strongest in decades, more and more impacts will be apparent around the world,” Steve Bowen, associate director of Aon Benfield’s catastrophe modelling team and meteorologist, said in a statement.
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The current El Nino weather phenomenon is expected to peak between October and January and could turn into one of the strongest on record.
MARKETS
SAO PAULO, Brazil (Reuters) — Brazilian coffee co-operative Cocatrel, based in South Minas in the heart of the world’s largest coffee belt, said the harvest is 80 percent complete in the area and beans are of good quality due to dry weather though somewhat smaller than usual.
The 55-year-old co-operative, expects to receive 900,000 to one million 60 kilogram bags of arabica coffee this season, slightly less than the one million last year, Cocatrel agronomist Roberto Felicori said.
Felicori said the region expects to harvest 30 percent less coffee this season than it would have produced if not for the drought over the past two years.
Protests
PARIS, France (Reuters) — France has offered its farmers additional financial help including tax rebates and investment aid after they drove 1,500 tractors onto the streets of Paris to protest against falling incomes and rising costs.
French farmers, struggling with the effects of Russia’s embargo on western food products and a slump in prices, say higher taxes and stricter environmental protection rules are hampering their competitiveness against European neighbours.
The plan included a rise in government support for investment, co-funded by the European Union and French regions, to bring it to three billion euros (C$4.4 billion) over three years.
The government will also freeze the adoption of new, mostly environmental standards, allow livestock farmers to postpone all debt repayments due in 2015, and will reduce their tax bills.
Police said there were 4,500 farmers and 1,580 tractors in the protest, although the FNSEA put the tractor figure at 1,733.
Trade
SYDNEY, Australia (Reuters) — The Australian government is under fire for lobbying the California legislature to stop a ban on the sale of kangaroo products in the U.S. state, a restriction the industry argues would cripple exports of the marsupials’ meat and leather.
Powerful animal rights and democracy lobbyists in California are angry about the way a bill was introduced in the California legislature, just days before the end of the legislative session, following extensive Australian government lobbying and financial aid.
The A$200 million (C$185 million) trade of kangaroo skin and meat is an emotive issue. The Australian native graces the country’s coat of arms and is a major tourism draw, making it a high profile target for animal rights activists who oppose commercial killing.
However, with a kangaroo population of about 48 million, more than double the human population, the animal is also considered a pest in many areas.
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wheat
VLADIVOSTOK, Russia (Reuters) — Russian agriculture minister Alexander Tkachev said the ministry has no plans for now to change its wheat export tax mechanism.
Russia introduced the tax in July, intended to stop exports surging if the ruble dropped steeply. However, prime minister Dmitry Medvedev has ordered preparations for proposals on the tax regime, giving the agriculture ministry until Sept. 10 to submit its proposal.
“For now the market situation is unstable, for now the mechanism remains in place,” Tkachev told journalists.
Tkachev also said that Russia would harvest between 100 million and 103 million tonnes of grain this year.
Grain exports this marketing year are seen at 25 million to 30 million tonnes, he added.
WEATHER
LONDON, U.K. (Thomson Reuters Foundation) — Floods in Myanmar caused by heavy monsoon rains and a cyclone have destroyed crops and killed livestock and will cause food shortages if more aid is not provided, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization said.
About 1.6 million people have been affected and more than 100 killed since June, the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs said.
Cyclone Komen, which hit Myanmar at the end of July, worsened the damage caused by the unusually heavy monsoon rains, and flood waters have inundated a total of 1.4 million acres of farmland, the FAO said.
The floods and landslides across the country have destroyed 972,000 acres of standing crops and 36,000 acres of fish and shrimp ponds, and drowned 20,000 cattle, it said.
Relief efforts have been hindered by damage to bridges, roads and railways.
So far $32 million has been provided for the flood response, according to the Financial Tracking Service, which estimates $100 million will be needed.
