Wal-Mart Building Milk Processing Plant; Russia Second Largest Wheat Exporter

The Nation’s largest milk processor now faces competition from its biggest customer. Wal-Mart plans to start building its first milk processing plant this summer. Wal-Mart accounts for 16 percent of Dean Foods processing, the largest milk processor in the United States. Wal-Mart’s Indiana facility is expected to be one of the largest in the milk industry and will begin supplying the retailer’s private label Great Value brand next year. The store-owned processor will start supplying milk to Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio and northern Kentucky. The plant will allow Wal-Mart to lower cost and lengthen shelf life by bringing the production closer to the point of sale.

A Russian agriculture consultancy group expects Russia to become the world's second-largest wheat exporter in 2015-16, thanks to its weak currency, its large crop and a decline in competition from its main rivals. Russia is already exporting wheat at a record pace, and experts predict the nation's total grain shipments to climb to 33.0 million metric tons to 33.5 million metric tons, including 23.0 or more million metric tons of wheat. This would make Russia the second largest wheat exporter after the European Union for the first time.