Reading Time: 2 minutes Winnipeg/Ottawa | Reuters — Canadian canola and wheat stockpiles were sharply lower in midsummer from a year earlier, the smallest in three years, but bigger than expected, a Statistics Canada report showed on Wednesday. StatsCan pegged all-wheat stocks as of July 31 at 5.2 million tonnes, down 27 per cent from a year ago but […] Read more
Canada’s canola, wheat stocks shrink less than expected
ChemChina extends tender offers for Syngenta
Reading Time: < 1 minute Zurich | Reuters — ChemChina on Tuesday extended by almost two months the deadline for Syngenta investors to tender their shares as the Chinese company seeks to complete a US$43 billion takeover of the Swiss pesticides and seeds group. Investors in Basel-based Syngenta now have until Nov. 8 to tender their shares unless this is […] Read more
Bayer sweetens Monsanto bid as talks enter final stretch
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — German pharmaceutical and crops manufacturer Bayer said on Monday that its negotiations with Monsanto had advanced, and that it was now willing to offer more than US$65 billion to acquire the world’s largest seeds company. Bayer’s announcement came as the gap in price expectations between the two companies has narrowed significantly, although important […] Read more
Austria drops talk of ‘conflict’ over EU-Canada trade deal
Reading Time: 2 minutes Vienna | Reuters — Austria toned down its opposition to a free trade deal between the European Union and Canada on Friday, two days after social democrat Chancellor Christian Kern had vowed to start a “conflict” over the agreement. While the so-called CETA accord is all but sealed, the Austrian leader’s opposition reflects concerns widely […] Read more
Austria expects ‘conflict’ on Canada trade deal
Reading Time: 2 minutes Vienna | Reuters — Austria is ready to confront other European Union members states over its opposition to a free trade deal with Canada, Chancellor Christian Kern said, because it sees it containing many of the same problems as one being negotiated with the U.S. Austria opposes a proposed free trade deal with the United […] Read more
PotashCorp, Agrium merger would send farmers to regulators
Reading Time: 3 minutes Winnipeg/Chicago | Reuters — North American farmers will pressure regulators to protect their negotiating leverage with fertilizer suppliers if PotashCorp and Agrium agree to merge, major farm groups said on Wednesday. The potential deal revealed on Tuesday would combine the world’s largest fertilizer producer by capacity, with the continent’s biggest network of farm retail dealers, […] Read more
ICE weekly outlook: Canola sees ‘bump in a bear market’
Reading Time: < 1 minute CNS Canada — News that China would delay its implementation of stricter dockage restrictions on Canadian canola shipments gave ICE Futures Canada contracts a boost on Wednesday, but values are still trending lower overall. “It’s a bump in a bear market,” said analyst Errol Anderson of Pro Market Communications in Calgary, on the initial reaction […] Read more
China delays new canola rules in late reprieve for Canada
Reading Time: 2 minutes Beijing | Reuters –– China agreed on Wednesday to delay introducing stricter rules on shipments of canola from Canada while both countries work to end a months-long trade spat over sales of the oilseed, offering an 11th-hour temporary reprieve for Canada’s farmers. Just a day before the new standards were due to go into force, […] Read more
Canadian canola exporters book sales to China
Reading Time: 2 minutes Winnipeg | Reuters — Canadian exporters are making small sales of canola to China under Beijing’s stricter terms, an industry group and three sources said, possibly undermining Ottawa’s hardline negotiating stance with the world’s top market for the oilseed. The dispute over the new shipping standard, which industry groups in the world’s biggest canola exporter […] Read more
Chile plans to send TPP deal to Congress this year
Reading Time: < 1 minute Santiago | Reuters — The Chilean government is expecting to send the Pacific trade deal known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) to its Congress for approval by the end of 2016, President Michelle Bachelet said Thursday. The 12-nation TPP aims to liberalize commerce in 40 per cent of the world’s economy, but its future is […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
