PREVIEW-Grain leaders to assess post-recession world

CHICAGO, Oct 30 - Captains of industry from major grain consuming and exporting countries are assembling in New Orleans, Louisiana, for two conferences next week to assess the impact of the global recession on the sector.

Participants at the Global Soybean and Grain Transportation Conference that begins on Nov. 3 and the Soya and Oilseed Summit which follows will also discuss a range of issues from transportation to production to agribusiness.

The gathering comes at a time when major grain countries like the United States and China are showing signs of pulling out of a crippling recession that dented world trade.

Economic and environmental sustainability in the years ahead will also be key topics of discussion along with issues surrounding global food and feed safety.

Representatives from major trading houses, top agriculture and food companies, producer associations, and the shipping industry will be in attendance.

"The agriculture and agricultural transportation industries are now starting to look at working their way out of the economic slump, trying to forecast what kind of investment is needed around the world," said Joe Jordan, content director for conference organizer Soyatech.

"The industry is thinking about infrastructure and where there is going to be increased demand, particularly how to meet the ever-increasing, ever-insatiable Chinese demand and to a somewhat lesser extent in India and throughout southeast Asia," Jordan said.

Rising demand for raw materials from the developing countries, most notably China, helped to drive grain and soybean prices to record highs last year.

Grain prices retreated amid the global economic slump but have yet to revisit levels seen before the 2008 commodities boom, even as top exporter the United States and several other key suppliers produce record- or near-record-large crops.

CHINA IN FOCUS

Grain exporters remain keenly focused on China, the world's top soybean importer, which has imported record amounts of the oilseed this year. Drought-hit corn production has some traders wondering if China could seek imported supplies in 2010.

Exporters are also gauging needs in other countries as disappointing monsoon rains have cut crop output in India and adverse weather elsewhere in Asia spurred demand for imports.

Food and feed safety remain hot topics for producers and exporters, with a focus on the European Union after shipments of U.S. soybeans and soy products were refused entry this year amid traces of unapproved types of genetically modified corn.

U.S. soy shipments to the bloc have been essentially nil despite feed industry pleas to relax the zero tolerance rules.

Several genetically modified crops have been approved by the EU, but expanding use of seeds "stacked" with several of those traits in one may present future hurdles.

Experts will also give their outlook for world oilseed and edible oil supplies and demand amid a growing global population and rising hunger in the developing world.

The United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization has said that the number of chronically hungry around the globe grew to more than 1 billion this year and that the world will need to produce 70 percent more food by 2050 to meet demand.