* Buenos Aires Grain Exchange said on Thursday that 20.6% of Argentina’s corn crop for the 2019-20 season has been planted.

According to the organisation, the country is expected to plant 6.4m hectares of corn for the season.

Its 2019-20 corn harvest is forecast to reach 50m tonnes, down from the previous season’s 50.6m tonnes.

* Brazilian sugar giant, Raizen announced that it will temporarily halt operations at its Bom Retiro mill in Sao Paulo.

The producer said that the closure will not affect cane processing as it will divert operations to nearby mills.

It hopes the move will help it optimize its operations in the area.

* The US will go ahead with a 25% tariff on a range of European Union products in response to illegal aircraft subsidies after a World Trade Organisation ruling.

Italian farmers association Coldiretti said on Thursday that the tariffs are expected to affect products worth around E500m, including cheese and processed meats.

Spanish agricultural association, COAG said around E1bn worth of agricultural products from the country will be affected.

* According to data from the US Department of Agriculture, China bought 3,500 tonnes of US pork in the week ending September 26 for the 2019-20 marketing year.

Data also showed that of the 31,000 tonnes of pork sales reported during the previous year, none were destined for China.

* Ivory Coast’s cotton exports for the first 8 months of the year reached 313,448 tonnes.

According to Reuters, this is up 6% compared to the same period last year.