Reading Time: 2 minutes CNS Canada — Strong demand for Canadian flax, combined with small production, has driven prices up, which could tempt producers making seeding choices this spring. Last year, the amount of flax seeded in Canada was down about a third from the previous growing season. As a result, stocks are short, despite large carryover. Demand, however, […] Read more
Higher prices could give flax acres a chance
U.S. livestock: Deferred cattle hit contract highs
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange cattle futures were mostly higher on Monday, with deferred months for both live and feeder cattle hitting contract highs on spreading and investment fund buying, traders and analysts said. Lean hog futures were largely lower, extending losses to the fourth straight session in a technical selloff. Most-active CME […] Read more
Brazil beef scandal leaves fewer options for global buyers
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters –– Global beef buyers will likely need to cobble together supplies from several nations if a scandal persists in Brazil’s meat sector because supply constraints and politics are already limiting trade flows, market analysts said Monday. China suspended imports of all meat products from Brazil, the world’s top beef exporter, as a […] Read more
Brazilian meatpackers slump on import curbs
Reading Time: 3 minutes Sao Paulo/Beijing | Reuters — Fallout from a meatpacking industry scandal in Brazil, the world’s biggest exporter of beef and poultry, widened on Monday as China, the EU, South Korea and Chile curtailed meat imports from the country after inspectors were accused of taking bribes to allow sales of tainted food. With other import curbs […] Read more
Pacific trade pact countries seek ‘progressive’ way forward
Reading Time: 2 minutes Vina Del Mar, Chile | Reuters — The remaining members of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) are seeking a way forward on the trade pact, they said on Wednesday, as some emphasized the need for deals to address concerns about workers’ rights and other issues. The TPP, which originally covered some 40 per cent of global […] Read more
Paths seen open to post-TPP Pacific trade pact
Reading Time: 2 minutes Santiago | Reuters — Countries that signed up for the failed trade pact known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) will meet in Chile next week, seeking a way forward on a possible future regional deal, Chile’s head of international trade told Reuters. Representatives from the 12 countries that formed the TPP, plus China and South […] Read more
Ag groups tout potential of trade pact with China
Reading Time: 3 minutes Canadian ag commodity groups expect to make a case for freer trade with China during consultations now underway alongside Ottawa’s talks on a possible free trade deal with Beijing. Federal Trade Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne on Friday announced public consultations, running until June 2, following last September’s announcement of “exploratory discussions” on a free trade agreement […] Read more
WHO says bird flu outbreaks raise alarm
Reading Time: 2 minutes London | Reuters — The risk of sustained human-to-human transmission of H7N9 avian flu in China is low, the World Health Organization said on Wednesday, but a surge in human cases there is worrying and requires constant monitoring. Outbreaks of H5 bird flu strains in poultry and wild birds across Europe, Africa and Asia are […] Read more
U.S. ethanol expected to be competitive in 2017
Reading Time: 2 minutes San Diego | CNS Canada –– Weaker commodity prices and less international competition are expected to lend demand and profitability to the U.S. ethanol market in 2017, one analyst says. But changing political and policy environments — in the U.S. and abroad — add an element of uncertainty to the market, and the potential to […] Read more
China reports more severe form of bird flu, threat to poultry
Reading Time: 2 minutes Geneva/Beijing | Reuters — China is working to assess the prevalence of a new strain of H7N9 bird flu, state radio reported Wednesday, after global health authorities said the strain had evolved into a more severe form in birds. So far the variant strain has only been detected in Guangdong province, but given the wide […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
