According to data released this week by the United States Courts, family farmers filed 595 Chapter 12 bankruptcies in 2019, up from 498 filings a year earlier. The data also shows that such filings - known as “family farmer” bankruptcies - have steadily increased every year for the past five years.
Chinese oil demand has dropped by about three million barrels a day, or 20 per cent of total consumption, as the coronavirus squeezes the economy, according to people with inside knowledge of the country's energy industry.The drop is probably the largest demand shock the oil market has suffered since the global financial crisis of 2008 to 2009, and the most sudden since the Sept 11 attacks. It could force the hand of the Opec cartel, which is considering an emergency meeting to cut production and staunch the decline in prices, which are headed for the lowest close in a year.
