Reading Time: 2 minutes Davos, Switzerland | Reuters — Norwegian fertilizer giant Yara says donors urgently need to close the U.N.’s $10 billion food programme funding gap to avoid a catastrophe as sanctions on Russian fertilizers and Ukraine’s grain export problems have created an extreme global shock. “The world has realized that food can be a weapon and it […] Read more
Fertilizer maker Yara says world faces extreme food supply shock
Sanctions cut global fertilizer supply 15 per cent, company says
Glencore ready for deals and dividends after profit boost
Reading Time: 2 minutes London | Reuters –– Commodities trader and miner Glencore reported an 18 per cent rise in full-year profit on Thursday, buoyed by a rebound in raw materials prices, and said it was well-placed financially for small acquisitions or a special dividend payout. Analysts said the results beat expectations, driving the share price nearly two per […] Read more
Glencore sells 40 per cent of agribusiness to CPP
Reading Time: 2 minutes London | Reuters –– Commodity miner and trader Glencore has agreed to sell 40 per cent of its agricultural unit to Canada’s state pension fund for US$2.5 billion, the company’s latest step to cut debt and soothe investor concerns about the impact of weak commodity prices. The sale values the agricultural unit as a whole […] Read more
Louis Dreyfus ring-fences some units, considers options
Reading Time: 2 minutes London | Reuters — Louis Dreyfus Commodities is ring-fencing its crop inputs, metals, juice and dairy units and is considering options ranging from joint ventures to the sale of certain assets, a senior company source said. In December, Reuters reported the trade house had been seeking buyers for its juice and fertilizer units for some […] Read more
Russia ‘completely’ blocks Canadian meat, fruit, vegetable imports
Reading Time: 5 minutes Moscow/Kiev | Reuters — Moscow imposed a total ban on imports of foods from Canada and other Western nations on Thursday in retaliation against sanctions over Ukraine, a stronger than expected measure that isolates Russian consumers from world trade to a degree unseen since Soviet days. In eastern Ukraine, a Dutch recovery team called off […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
