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Sunflower Highlights

Post Date: Mar 21 2016

March 21, 2016

Reserve Your Room for Summer Seminar

Circle these dates on your calendar and make plans for the upcoming NSA “34th Annual Summer Seminar” scheduled for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, June 28-29-30 at the Ramada Hotel in Bismarck, ND.   A block of rooms has been reserved at Ramada for June 28-29 under the “National Sunflower Association.” To reserve a room, guests may call 1-800-554-7077. The program is being finalized now and more information will be coming soon.  Check the NSA website for further updates. See you in Bismarck!

NSA Scholarship Available

The National Sunflower Association is seeking applicants for the Curtis Stern Memorial Scholarship. In tribute to the dedicated work of Curtis Stern, an industry advocate and former NSA board member, the NSA Board of Directors established a memorial scholarship in his name. The ND Community Foundation and a committee consisting of NSA members administer the fund. Funds assist students who study in the field of agriculture with special emphasis on sunflower production, promotion, or research. Preference will be given to students who are in their last two years of undergraduate studies or in graduate level studies and have maintained at least a 3.0 GPA on a 4.0=A scale.  Application deadline is Friday, April 1, 2016. $4,500 is available for award this year. Applications can be submitted directly on the ND Community Foundation website. Contact Tina Mittelsteadt with any further questions.

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Sunflower Oil Exports Increase to Mexico

Sunflower oil exports to Mexico have more than tripled from a year ago. From October 2015 to January 2016, Mexico has imported 3,405 metric tons (MT) of sunflower oil. That’s compared to 985 MT from October 2014 to January 2015. Exports to Taiwan are also up, from 39 MT last year to 152 MT this year. Canada remains the top importer of sunflower oil, with 6,160 MT from October 2015 to January 2016. Total sunflower exports from October 2015 to January 2016 were 11,592 MT, compared to 10,576 MT during the same time period a year ago.

Exports of In-Shell Sunflower Increase

Mexico is also importing more in-shell sunflower this year: from October 2015 to January 2016, Mexico has imported 3,106 metric tons (MT) of in-shell sunflower, compared to 1,685 MT during the same time period a year ago. Imports to Iraq have also increased, from 398 MT from October 2014 to January 2015 to 3,944 MT from October 2015 to January 2016. Spain remains the top importer of in-shell sunflower. Total exports are up as well, to 19,732 MT from October 2015 to January 2016, compared to 17,992 during the same time time frame a year ago. Exports of sunflower kernel are down slightly, from 4,488 MT from October 2014 to January 2015 to 2,551 MT from October 2015 to January 2016.

Upcoming Events

March 23, 2016: NSA High Plains Meeting, Goodland, KS May 29-June 3, 2016: 19th Annual International Sunflower Conference, Edirne, Turkey June 28-30, 2016: 2016 NSA Summer Seminar, Bismarck, ND Markets Outside markets are helping to rally CBoT soyoil contracts. The US dollar continued to drop on reaction to the Federal Reserve saying that it will be slow to raise interest rates. The lower dollar supported a number of commodities and should help export sales in the near term. Crude petroleum oil prices rallied with the lower dollar giving additional support to soyoil with thoughts it will increase bio-diesel usage. Private firms are releasing their expectations for 2016 planted acres ahead of this month’s USDA Planted Acres report. Informa estimated US 2016 soybean acres near 84.0 mil vs 82.7 last year and a crop of 3,893 million bushels vs 3,929 last year. Traders are expecting oil sunflower acres to show an increase from 2015. Confection sunflower acres are expected to be lower than last year. Most market watchers look for corn acres to increase slightly with wheat acres down from last year. The market is also closely watching the weather and political situation in Brazil. Rain is expected in Argentina and Brazil soybean areas this week, but the storms do not appear heavy enough to disrupt harvest.