Quick Overview

• U.S. exports rose 0.9% in November while imports rose 2.6%
  

• Canada’s exports rose 1.1% while imports rose 3.9%
  

• China raised bank reserve requirements by 0.5%.

• India's economic growth in 2009/10 is expected to be 7.0 to 7.5%, the prime minister's economic advisor said.
  
  

• The USDA's 2009-2010 U.S. ending stocks estimate of:
  Corn was raised from 1.675 to 1.764 billion bushels.Yields were the culprit, coming in at 165.2 bu/acre, from 162.9 bu/acre last month and 0.7 bu/acre above the highest trade estimate.
  Soybeans were reduced from 255 to 245 million bushels.
  Wheat was raised from 900 to 976 million bushels.
  Sugar was raised from 1.016 to 1.140 million tons.
  Cotton was lowered from 4.50 to 4.30 million bales.
  
  

• The USDA's 2009-2010 world ending stocks estimate of:
  Corn was raised from 132 to 136 million tons.
  Soybeans were raised from 57 to 60 million tons.
  Wheat was raised from 191 to 196 million tons.
  Cotton was lowered to 51.7 million bales.
  
  

• Orange crop was kept unchanged at 135 million boxes, but the juice yield was lowered from 1.63 to 1.60 gallons per box -- the government report was compiled before the freezing weather struck.
  
  
  
• The USDA reduced its 2010 estimate of beef production 2% from 2009.

• (Reuters) Dry bulk ship owners are insisting vessels go via the Cape of Good Hope on voyages from South Africa to Mediterranean ports to avoid pirates in the Gulf of Aden - adding 10 days to shipping times. Utilities in Italy, Greece and Israel which use coal shipped from Indonesia and South Africa are having to pay higher shipping costs for the longer voyages, utility sources said. Around 60 percent of South Africa's 60 million tonnes a year of coal exports goes to Europe.

• A White House plan to slap a fee on U.S. banks to cover the cost of the $700 billion bailout was met with the expected skepticism by bank lobbyists.

• Pakistan will scrap taxes on the import of 700,000 tonnes of white sugar through the private sector to meet shortages and keep prices in check, Ministry of Industries officials said on Wednesday.

• The Philippines is planning to import up to 150,000 tons of refined sugar to cover increasing demand amid a shortfall in domestic production, a regulatory official said Wednesday.