The Abia State Government has announced that it will stop depending on allocation from the federal government by the year 2020 as its investments in palm oil plantations would have started yielding enough revenue to sustain it. Abia State’s Commissioner for Information, Mr. John Okiyi said this during a chat with the members of the Correspondents Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) in Umuahia on March 28.

allocation from the federal government by the year 2020 as its investments in palm oil plantations would have started yielding enough revenue to sustain it.

Abia State’s Commissioner for Information, Mr. John Okiyi said this during a chat with the members of the Correspondents Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) in Umuahia on March 28.

Mr. Okiyi stated said that “government has so far planted 7.7 million high-yielding Tenera Palm seedlings, which will start yielding within the next three years.”

Oil Palm FruitsMinfow

Mr. Okiyi also said the recent ranking of the state by the National Bureau of Statistics as a middle-class state was as fair enough, though the state has not gotten to the peak yet.

He said, “Abia will not rest on its oars, but determined to break new grounds until we are able to meet our dream for Abia. It shows that Abia has not been borrowing over the years and that we have also been prudent in the management of our limited resources.”

The commissioner noted the state’s prudent spending on projects, stating that the structures are designed to last a long period of time

Grain Markets Quiet, Cattle Sharply Lower

orld cash wheat prices were little changed as well; Russian offers appear to be stabilizing as they head into the winter months. Export demand has picked up with Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Iraq, Jordan and Ethiopia all making major purchases over the last week.

Corn values were flat as the US harvest winds down and farmer selling shuts off. Cash values for corn have improved despite the weakness in the futures market, suggesting strong end user demand. Soybeans were higher on big export sales to China and on nervousness about drying conditions in key production areas of Brazil and Argentina. With a La Nina event becoming official, the market is bracing for potential longer term dry conditions to develop across much of Argentina and southern Brazil during their growing seasons.

The cattle complex was sharply lower as both live cattle and feeders broke below key support levels. With the increasing herd size, showlists are quickly increasing as well, putting pressure on cash markets. Packer demand for holiday beef purchases appears to be over, and short kill weeks during Christmas and New Years will keep packer interest subdued until January.

For feeders, we still see good demand for lighter weight calves, particularly for farmer/feeders now that corn harvest is over, and they can concentrate on filling pens. Corn is cheap, as are most feedgrains, further encouraging feeding livestock instead of just selling the grain for cash.

Crude oil found some support on a bigger drawdown in stocks than the market expected. That drawdown led to higher supplies of distillate products than expected, putting pressure on those markets.

Precious metals saw more selling pressure as there is just little inflation evidence, and investors are becoming more confident in stocks now that a tax reform bill gets closer to becoming a reality.

The stronger economic outlook was certainly evident in the Dow, which soared to another all-time high, and in the US dollar which managed to continue its rally off of the late November lows.