Reading Time: < 1 minute CNS Canada — ICE Futures Canada canola contracts moved higher during the week ended Wednesday, as persistent weather problems in Western Canada and gains in world vegetable oil markets provided support. “The most important variable for the canola market is trends in the global vegetable oil markets,” said Mike Jubinville of ProFarmer Canada, noting tight […] Read more
ICE weekly outlook: Canola faces supply questions
WHO cancer agency asked experts to withhold glyphosate documents
Reading Time: 4 minutes London | Reuters — The World Health Organization’s cancer agency — which is facing criticism over how it classifies carcinogens — advised academic experts on one of its review panels not to disclose documents they were asked to release under U.S. freedom of information laws. In a letter and an email seen by Reuters, officials […] Read more
Belgians struggle to agree on text to save CETA
Reading Time: 2 minutes Brussels | Reuters –– Belgian politicians failed to break their deadlock over a planned EU-Canada free trade agreement on Wednesday, but agreed to resume talks on Thursday in a sign they may be nearing a consensus that would keep the deal alive. The Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), seven years in the making, is backed […] Read more
CN feels Prairie harvest delays in Q3 revenues
Reading Time: 2 minutes Weather-related stalls in this fall’s Prairie grain harvest have chipped away at Canadian National Railway’s (CN) third-quarter financials, as the railway booked lower profits and revenues on “shifting traffic demands.” Montreal-based CN on Tuesday reported overall net income of $972 million on $3.014 billion in revenue for the quarter ending Sept. 30, down from $1.007 […] Read more
Court may help EU sidestep lone-wolf resistance to trade deals
Reading Time: 3 minutes Brussels | Reuters — A court ruling early next year may help the European Union out of the kind of embarrassing situation it has just landed in, where a regional assembly in Belgium is blocking a major trade agreement between Canada and the 28 sovereign states of the EU. Belgian negotiators failed on Tuesday to […] Read more
ChemChina reported ready for concessions to clinch Syngenta deal
Reading Time: 3 minutes Beijing/Zurich | Reuters — State-owned Chinese chemicals group ChemChina is ready to offer more concessions to win European Union antitrust approval for its US$43 billion bid for Swiss pesticide and seed group Syngenta, a source with direct knowledge of the process said. Clinching China’s biggest-ever foreign acquisition is taking longer than planned amid a flurry […] Read more
Revisions in the works for Canada’s Food Guide
Reading Time: 3 minutes Health Canada is planning changes to one of its key policy documents to reflect how Canadians’ diets are generally coming up short in vegetables, fruits, whole grains, milk and milk alternatives. At the Canadian Cardiovascular Congress in Montreal on Monday, the federal health department launched a 45-day public consultation on changes to Canada’s Food Guide, […] Read more
Syngenta slumps after EU watchdog sparks ChemChina deal doubts
Reading Time: 2 minutes Brussels/Zurich | Reuters — Syngenta shares fell more than nine per cent on Monday after the European Commission triggered doubts about Chinese state-owned chemical company ChemChina’s US$43 billion bid for the Swiss pesticides and seeds group. The companies met with the EU antitrust authority a week ago in a bid to allay competition concerns about […] Read more
Belgian internal feud blocks EU-Canada trade deal
Reading Time: 3 minutes Brussels | Reuters — The European Union’s hopes of signing a landmark free trade deal with Canada this week appeared to evaporate on Monday as the Belgian federal government failed to win the consent of French-speaking regional authorities. European Council President Donald Tusk had given Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel until Monday, three days before […] Read more
Canada says up to EU to save free trade deal
Reading Time: 3 minutes Brussels | Reuters — Canada said on Saturday it was up to the European Union to save a free trade deal that could boost both economies but that cannot be signed as planned next week due to opposition from Belgium’s French-speaking region. The Walloon government was awaiting new proposals from the European Commission, according to […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
