Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Chicago corn prices surged to a four-week high on Thursday as forecasts of warmer weather and worries over recent storm damage in the U.S. Midwest countered pressure from huge government harvest forecasts. The corn rally also boosted wheat, as traders continue to debate how much impact the drought hammering Argentina’s farm […] Read more
U.S. grains: Exports, storm damage offset big crop outlook
Corn, soy prices buck USDA forecasts; wheat rises on corn rally
U.S. livestock: Live cattle set five-month high, beef prices rise more
USDA cuts pork production forecast
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures leapt to a five-month high on Wednesday and feeder cattle futures neared a six-month peak as boxed beef prices continued to rise. Meatpackers are paying more for cattle due to the strength of the beef market, traders said. Prices typically rise heading into Labour Day, […] Read more
CBOT weekly outlook: Bearish USDA report generates bullish reaction
Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — There were marked increases in yields for U.S. corn and soybeans that bested market expectations in the supply and demand report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Despite those increases, corn and soybean futures on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) didn’t react as anticipated. “We’re getting a friendly reaction to bearish […] Read more
Canadian canola prices spike as shippers find back door to China
'Profits are extravagant... It is like gold oil now'
Reading Time: 2 minutes Winnipeg/Beijing | Reuters — Canadian canola prices have soared to the highest in nearly two years, despite a diplomatic dispute between Ottawa and Beijing, as exporters find roundabout ways to reach top oilseed buyer China. Chinese authorities have since March 2019 blocked canola shipments by two Canadian exporters, an action they took after Canadian police […] Read more
Canada says requirements for Huawei exec’s extradition to U.S. met
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — Canada’s attorney general says the requirements for extraditing Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou to the United States on charges of bank fraud have been met, documents submitted in a British Columbia court show. Meng, 48, was arrested in December 2018 on a warrant from the United States, which alleges that she misled […] Read more
China to encourage foreign investment in livestock breeding, plant-based meat substitutes
Reading Time: < 1 minute Beijing | Reuters – China’s state planner said on Friday that it will encourage foreign investment in livestock and poultry breeding, as well as plant-based meats substitutes, from this year. The move by the National Development and Reform Commission comes as China, the world’s top meat market, strives to boost supplies of meat and alternative […] Read more
U.S. sells record amount of corn to China as tensions rise
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters – Chinese buyers booked their single biggest-ever purchase of U.S. corn, extending their flurry of large U.S. purchases even as tensions between Washington and Beijing rise. The U.S. Agriculture Department said on Thursday that private exporters sold 1.937 million tonnes of corn to China for delivery in the 2020/21 marketing year. That topped the […] Read more
Argentina nears China hog deal it hopes could turbocharge local pork production
Reading Time: 2 minutes Buenos Aires | Beijing | Reuters – Argentina is nearing an initial agreement with China that could pave for the way for potential investments by the Asian giant in local pork production for export, Argentina’s undersecretary of trade and investment promotion told Reuters. That could eventually lead to Chinese-backed hog farms in the South American […] Read more
U.S. warns against planting unsolicited seeds from China
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters – The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Monday warned residents against planting unsolicited packages of seeds arriving from China because they could harm the environment. At least eight states, from Washington to Ohio, have also told residents in recent days not to put the seeds in the ground, after they arrived apparently […] Read more
U.S. grains: Soybeans ease on China tensions
Wheat gains on declining U.S. dollar, export hopes; corn mostly flat
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Chicago soybeans softened on Friday as optimism over Chinese buying in the United States was tempered by political tensions between the two economic heavyweights. Corn ended lower on strong crop conditions, while wheat rose on hopes of new U.S. export sales with the dollar remaining low. The Chicago Board of Trade’s […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
