Austria’s Parliament Building, in Vienna. (CIA.gov)

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

(Europa.eu)

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


(Dave Bedard photo)

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

(Dave Bedard photo)

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


(Dave Bedard photo)

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

(File photo courtesy Canola Council of Canada)

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


Cape Horn, the southernmost point of Chile. (CIA.gov)

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

(Cia.gov)

China raps Ottawa as dispute over canola exports deepens

Reading Time: 2 minutes Ottawa | Reuters — A dispute over $2 billion worth of Canadian canola exports to China intensified on Thursday when Beijing criticized Ottawa’s insistence that bilateral relations could not improve until the matter is settled. The situation threatens to mar Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s visit to China next week. “We oppose linking a concrete […] Read more


(Dave Bedard photo)

Viterra books lower first-half revenues for Glencore

Reading Time: 2 minutes “Average” crops and lower prices on the Prairies in the first half of 2016 led to results “substantially below” those in the year-earlier period for Viterra’s Canadian operations. Viterra’s owner, Swiss commodity mining/marketing firm Glencore, on Wednesday reported a nine per cent drop in revenues across its global agricultural products business, from $10.74 billion in […] Read more

(EC.europa.eu)

Pettigrew tapped to help push through EU trade deal

Reading Time: < 1 minute Ottawa | Reuters — Canada has named a former politician with experience in trade and foreign affairs as the government’s new envoy to help complete its long-negotiated free trade agreement with the European Union, a spokeswoman said Wednesday. Pierre Pettigrew, who served as both minister of foreign affairs and minister for international trade under previous […] Read more