Headlines:

  • Bunge CEO Schroder to Step Down Amid Investor Pressure
    Global grains trader Bunge Ltd’s Chief Executive Officer Soren Schroder has stepped down after months of pressure from shareholders to shake up the company amid a prolonged decline in crop prices. Bunge bowed down to the demands of investors D.E. Shaw and Continental Grain in October, adding three board members and saying it would consider options including selling itself. Later in December, the company also named the CEO of agrichemicals company Syngenta to its board. The company has been grappling with low crop prices and the ongoing trade war that has slashed U.S. crop exports to China. It was also the target of failed takeover bids from rivals ADM and commodities trader Glencore. Bunge is open to reengaging with both Glencore and ADM with the departure of Schroder, Bloomberg reported on Saturday, citing a person familiar with the matter. Schroder, who served as CEO since 2013, will continue in his current role until a successor is named, the company said in a statement. White Plains, New York-based Bunge also appointed board member Kathleen Hyle as chairman, effective immediately. Hyle, most recently, was the head of the audit committee at the company’s board. Hyle will be part of the search committee created to appoint a new CEO.
  • Status-Quo Farm Bill Nears Victory with Modifications Already in the Air
    After months as an ideological flashpoint, a toned-down farm bill is on track for bipartisan passage in Congress this week, short of a proposal for stricter SNAP work requirements. Enactment won’t end debate over the status-quo legislation. “It can’t come soon enough, and when it comes, it will not be enough,” said President Roger Johnson of the National Farmers Union. The $87-billion-a-year bill would tweak U.S. farm subsidies, expand the land-idling Conservation Reserve by 3 million acres and make nieces, nephews, and first cousins eligible to collect up to $125,000 a year in crop supports, according to lawmakers and lobbyists. It also would legalize industrial hemp as a crop and install USDA as its regulator.

Summary:

Reports showed that March 1stwas the deadline for the US & China to agree on a trade compromise. But the arrest of Huawei’s CFO (the daughter of the CEO) could complicate renegotiations during this time horizon. The Crop Production and USDA Supply and Demand report will come out tomorrow at noon eastern.  The average estimates for US grain carryout for corn, soybeans and wheat are 1.738, .945 and .956 billion bushels respectively. The corn market finished lower on spillover of the uncertainty in the soybean market. Weekly corn inspections came on the lower end of estimates of .850-1.200 mmt at .876 mmt. The US sold 1.104 mmt and 541,020 mt of corn to Mexico for the 2018-19 and2019-20 marketing years respectively. Soybean prices dropped on pressures that the trade war truce may be in jeopardy because of recent tensions ramping up with the arrest of Huawei’s CFO. There have been discussions whether China will import 5-10 mmt of US soybeans between Chinese and US officials. Soybean inspections came in line with estimates of .700-1.100 mmt at .922 mmt. The US sold 125,000 mt of soybeans to unknown locations for the 2019-20 marketing year. January beans have fallen 14 cents from the highs on the positive news from the G-20 Summit.