(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

China approves corn export permits to two companies

Reading Time: < 1 minute Beijing | Reuters –– China has given approval to at least two companies to export corn, two sources with knowledge of the matter said, in a radical move by the world’s No. 2 producer to cut its ballooning surplus that could add more supply to a saturated global market. The move threatens to push U.S. […] Read more

Shanghai’s Pudong business district, shown here, is home to COFCO Agri’s Chinese trading office. (CIA.gov)

China’s COFCO to open Canadian grain office by autumn

Reading Time: < 1 minute Winnipeg | Reuters — China’s COFCO Agri will open a Canadian crop trading office in Winnipeg by the time farmers harvest their new crops, the state-owned agricultural trader said Tuesday. The new office, which Reuters reported earlier this month, will focus on trading canola and its processed products oil and meal, as well as wheat, […] Read more


(Dave Bedard photo)

CPP reported in talks for stake in Glencore agribusiness

Reading Time: < 1 minute Reuters — Commodity trading and mining firm Glencore is in advanced talks to sell a stake in its agricultural business to the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. The CPPIB would take a stake of up to 40 per cent, valuing the business at […] Read more

Noble Group, whose ag assets include this sugar mill in Brazil, is set to become a fully-owned arm of China’s COFCO. (ThisIsNoble.com)

Noble exits ag markets with unit sale to China’s COFCO

Reading Time: 2 minutes New York | Reuters –– Noble Group said Tuesday it has agreed to sell its remaining 49 per cent stake in its agribusiness to China’s state-owned COFCO International, exiting agricultural markets as the Asian commodity merchant seeks to slash debt and shore up cash. The $750 million cash deal will hand COFCO full ownership of […] Read more


(NobleAgri.com)

COFCO in talks for full ownership of Noble agribusiness

Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — China’s food giant COFCO is in advanced talks to take full ownership of Noble Group’s agribusiness, three sources said, a move which would cement its newfound strength in global agriculture markets and help bolster Noble’s balance sheet. The sources said COFCO was in talks to buy the remaining 49 per cent of Singapore-listed […] Read more

G3 CEO Karl Gerrand, shown here in April in Winnipeg, said the company isn’t particularly interested in making a move on Glencore’s Viterra assets. (Dave Bedard photo)

Not much interest in Glencore ag assets at grain firm G3

Reading Time: 2 minutes Winnipeg | Reuters –– Grain handler G3 Canada, a joint venture between a Saudi Arabian firm and Bunge Ltd., doesn’t have much interest in bidding for a stake in rival Glencore’s agricultural business, its chief executive said Tuesday. Swiss-based Glencore, the trader and miner whose shares have been battered by the commodities slump, is looking […] Read more


(Dave Bedard photo)

Glencore reported in talks on agriculture assets

Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — Glencore is in talks with a Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund and China’s state-backed grain trader COFCO, along with Canadian pension funds, to sell a stake in its agricultural assets, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. Selling assets is one prong of a wider strategy by the Swiss-based trader and miner to […] Read more

(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

China to stockpile corn during 2015-16 at lower price

Reading Time: < 1 minute Beijing | Reuters — The Chinese government will continue its controversial corn stockpile policy during 2015-16 and will start to stock the grain from farmers at a lower price compared with last year, government bodies said in a statement late Friday. Beijing will pay 2,000 yuan (C$414) per tonne to farmers in the northeast, the […] Read more