Egypt's Chamber of Tourism reports that a side effect of the Russian situation is a 30 percent decline in hotel bookings. The decrease will have a serious effect on the domestic poultry industry, a major consumer of imported corn and soymeal, as the tourist sector is one of its major customers.

  News Updates Due to the December/January Christmas and New Year holidays occurring in most exporting countries, grain activity in the Middle East/North Africa (MENA) region seems to be at a minimum as export offices are short-staffed during this period. MEDITERRANEAN/MIDDLE EAST COMMENTS Once again, the biggest news affecting the MENA region is the Russian wheat situation with the addition of an export tax beginning 1 February 2015. Thi...