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Containment is the name of the game as USDA deals with the first U.S. case of New World screwworm in six decades, according to USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins.
“We do not believe this will be an infestation,” she told the House Agriculture Committee in testimony on Thursday. “We’ll be able to isolate each case.”
USDA confirmed a screwworm case on Wednesday in La Pryor, Texas, about 30 miles northeast of the U.S.-Mexico border. Cattle futures had sold off earlier this week on growing fears the pest would turn up in the U.S., but rallied sharply on Thursday as traders brushed off worries an outbreak could dent consumer demand.
August and later feeder-cattle futures jumped $10.75k the daily price limit, while live cattle futures also posted gains.
China, EU backlash over U.S. tariff threat: China and the European Union expressed anger over the Trump administration’s latest proposal for tariffs of up to 12.5% on imports from several countries. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative on Tuesday daid it found that China and 59 other economies failed to prohibit or adequately restrict US imports made with forced labor, subjecting them to punitive action under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974.China’s Foreign Ministry said the US findings were a pretext for “political manipulation”, the South China Morning Post reported, while Bernd Lange, chairman of the European Parliament’s trade committee, called the findings “utterly absurd”, arguing that the EU had already adopted some of the world’s strictest rules targeting products made with forced labour.
- China’s anger over the measure may get some of the blame for Thursday’s selloff in the grain and oilseed markets, where traders continue to await purchases of U.S. agricultural goods following last month’s summit meeting between President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
Crude-oil ‘inflection point’: Commodity trading house Trafigure said Thursday that an “inflection point” in the oil market may soon be at hand due to the continued closure of the Strait of Hormuz. The warning came after the group reported record first-half profits of $4.1 billion – more than double its previous peak – as the war in Iran boosted its trading gains, the Financial Times reported.
- “The factors that have contained prices so far – elevated inventories, floating cargoes, co-ordinated SPR [strategic petroleum reserve] releases, a shoulder season, and demand destruction across Asia and Africa – have bought the market time, but are not a solution,” Trafigura chief economist Saad Rahim wrote in the report, according to the FT. Low U.S. gasoline inventories, which are drawing down at a record pace, are a particular concern.
China bargain-hunting for vegoil: China is an eager buyer of discounted cargoes of Indonesian palm-based cooking oil, accelerating purchases as buyers take advantage of lower prices following Jakarta’s overhaul of its commodity export system, Bloomberg reported. At least 18, and possibly as many as 30 cargoes of palm olein, have been booked by Chinese buyers in the two weeks since Indonesia announced its new policy, the report said, citing people familiar with the deals, with most for June and July delivery.
Buyers are taking advantage of attractive price margins after olein futures on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange rallied, the report said.
Refining group sues over biofuel mandate: The American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers trade group said Wednesday it had filed a lawsuit challenging the Environmental Protection Agency’s biofuel blending mandates, arguing they will sharply increase compliance costs and fuel prices, Reuters reported. The group represents U.S. refiners. The lawsuit filed in the D.C. Circuit Court on Friday asks the court to review the final mandates set under the EPA’s Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). The mandates, finalized in late March, require oil refiners to blend billions of gallons of ethanol and other biofuels into the nation’s fuel supply or buy credits known as Renewable Identification Numbers (RINs).
Ag tech investment jumps: Global investments in agritech startups are on the rise. Funds for startups hit $16.2 billion in 2025, the Economist reported, citing a report by venture-capital company Agfunder. Of the total, $9 billion went into research into boosting farm yields, up from $2.5 billion in 2016. The Economist argued that unsettled, volatile times in agriculture tend to boost investments aimed at innovation.
The report noted that global investment in agrifood technology spiked in 2021 as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, rising from $22 billion in 2019 to a high of $55 billion.
Hybrid sales heat up: Sales of hybrid cars and trucks are running hot, a consequence of the surge in fuel prices sparked by the Iran war, the Wall Street Journal reported. Hybrid sales rose 33% in May compared to a year ago, the report said, citing data from Motor Intelligence, marking a bright spot in an otherwise lukewarm market for new cars.