Reading Time: < 1 minute Chicago | Reuters –– U.S. hog and cattle contracts fell their daily trading limits on Monday, hitting multi-month lows on fears about the spread of a coronavirus in China. “If we thought China’s coronavirus was making the media rounds late last week, it’s a full-fledged media frenzy this morning,” INTL FCStone said in a note […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Cattle, hogs limit down on coronavirus fears
Canada, EU, China, others agree on temporary fix to WTO crisis
Reading Time: 2 minutes Brussels/Davos | Reuters — Canada, the European Union, China and 14 other World Trade Organization members agreed on Friday to create a temporary mechanism to settle trade disputes after U.S. action rendered the WTO incapable last month of acting as the umpire of global trade. The Canadian government and the European Commission said separately that […] Read more
U.S. grains: Soybeans hit six-week low as China virus sparks selling
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — U.S. soybean futures sank to their lowest level in more than six weeks on Friday as fears over the coronavirus spreading from China triggered broad-based selling. Corn and wheat futures also weakened as the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed a second U.S. case of the new virus in […] Read more
ICE weekly outlook: Don’t expect China to buy if Huawei exec goes free
Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — ICE Futures canola traders have been keeping a close eye on this week’s extradition hearings for Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou in Vancouver. The hearing is to determine whether Meng will be extradited to the U.S., which requested her arrest by Canadian authorities in December 2018. China, in the wake of that arrest, detained […] Read more
Rising protein demand expected in 2020
Canada able to serve both plant- and animal-based protein markets
Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — Demand for plant- and animal-based proteins alike is likely to increase in the coming year. Since 2017, pea protein demand increased by about 13 per cent, Craig Klemmer, chief agriculture economist at Farm Credit Canada, said at Ag Days in Brandon, Man. Over the same time period, demand for canola protein increased by […] Read more
Favourable growing conditions forecast for major ag regions
Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — Canadian producers looking for challenging growing conditions elsewhere in the world to prop up commodity prices may be disappointed during the 2020 growing season. South America “If you’re looking for any help from South America for your canola or soybeans or corn, you’d better look somewhere else,” Drew Lerner, president of World Weather […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Cattle stumble to two-month low ahead of USDA report
Lean hogs follow cutout values higher
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — U.S. live and feeder cattle futures dropped to their lowest prices in about two months on Thursday as traders adjusted positions before a government report that is expected to show an increase in supplies. Hog futures, meanwhile, advanced to their highest prices in about two weeks. The U.S. Department of Agriculture […] Read more
U.S. grains: Corn futures hit three-month high on export demand
Profit-taking sparks pullback in CBOT wheat
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — U.S. corn futures topped a three-month high on Thursday on improved export demand, while wheat futures traded near a 1-1/2 year high reached a session earlier. Soybeans eased to a one-month low as traders awaited signs of Chinese purchases of U.S. crops in the wake of last week’s initial trade agreement […] Read more
Improving global ag trade may not favour Canada
Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — When it comes to improving global trade relations, a rising tide may not lift all boats. In the recently-signed Phase One trade deal between the U.S. and China, Beijing pledged to significantly increase Chinese purchases of U.S. soybeans and other agriculture goods. “Where does that leave room for Canada, given the demand side […] Read more
Pulse weekly outlook: Uncertainty pervades markets
Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — The price spread between green and yellow peas continues to widen in Western Canada, but whether or not that trend will continue remains to be seen. Numerous outside factors lend a general air of uncertainty to the pulse market, according to a pulse trader. Green peas typically trade at a premium to yellow […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
