Reading Time: 2 minutes Bitcoin touched a fresh record high on Friday, with its sights set firmly on the $100,000 barrier, in a stellar rally for the cryptocurrency sparked by expectations of a more friendly regulatory environment under a Donald Trump administration.
Bitcoin at record highs, sets sights on $100,000
Drought curtails Argentina’s latest ‘soy dollar’ scheme
Soy supply 'a very different situation' now
Reading Time: 2 minutes Buenos Aires | Reuters — Farmers participating in Argentina’s “soy dollar” plan to boost exports have traded less than half of the soybeans they had traded at the same point during the previous plan, due to the impact of a drought, the Rosario grains exchange said on Friday. The Argentina government launched its latest “soy […] Read more
JBS profit bolstered by weak currency, strong Chinese and U.S. markets
China became third largest beef export market for JBS Canada, company says
Reading Time: 2 minutes Sao Paulo | Reuters — Meat processor JBS SA’s fourth-quarter profit rose 65 per cent from a year earlier, boosted by strong food sales in China and the U.S. and a sharp devaluation of Brazil’s real currency, the company said in a securities filing on Wednesday. For full-year 2020 its profit was 4.6 billion reais, […] Read more
Buhler pulls Farm King manufacturing back to Canada
Work to halt at Minnesota plant early next year
Reading Time: 2 minutes Winnipeg farm equipment maker Buhler Industries is relocating its Farm King manufacturing work back to Canada from the U.S. this winter. After consolidating its U.S. manufacturing this summer into one plant at Willmar, Minn., about 140 km west of Minneapolis, the company said Thursday it will also halt production at Willmar in early 2021. Buhler, […] Read more
ICE weekly outlook: Weaker U.S. dollar ripples into canola
Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — As the Canadian dollar continues its rise, the adverse effects on canola could become more pronounced, according to Errol Anderson of ProMarket Communications in Calgary. Anderson’s expectations are for the loonie to hit a range of 75-77 U.S. cents, which could see canola drop $5-$10 per tonne. “The loonie, even though our economy […] Read more
CBOT weekly outlook: Poor ethanol demand weighing on corn
Reading Time: 1 minute MarketsFarm — Losses in crude oil and ethanol have weighed heavily on grain and oilseed markets, with Chicago Board of Trade corn falling to fresh contract lows Wednesday. General uncertainty over COVID-19 is expected to keep a bearish tone in the market. “The big thing has been the overall slowdown in ethanol production,” said Tom […] Read more
U.S. grains: Soybeans, wheat climb on currency
Corn rises and falls with oil
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Chicago soybean and wheat futures on Thursday posted their biggest gains in two weeks, as a falling U.S. dollar made exports more attractive against South American and Black Sea grain producers. Corn futures climbed early on strong U.S. export sales and an early jump in crude oil prices, but settled only […] Read more
ICE weekly outlook: More virus volatility expected in canola
Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — A sharp drop in the Canadian dollar helped lessen the blow of the COVID-19 pandemic on the ICE Futures canola market. However, volatility and uncertainty are expected to remain the feature in the upcoming weeks. Any strength in canola “is 100 per cent the Canadian dollar and nothing else,” said Ken Ball, of […] Read more
U.S. won’t levy new tariffs on Brazil, Trump tells Bolsonaro
Reading Time: < 1 minute Sao Paulo | Reuters — Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said on Friday that U.S. President Donald Trump told him in a phone conversation that his administration will not levy new tariffs on Brazilian steel and aluminum as threatened earlier this month. “I had a phone conversation a few moments ago with Donald Trump. … He […] Read more
Vietnam considers CPTPP-level tariff cuts on U.S. ag products
Reading Time: 2 minutes Hanoi | Reuters — Vietnam is considering cutting tariffs on several U.S. products, the ministry of finance said in a statement on Monday, after U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross urged Vietnam to reduce its trade surplus during a visit to Hanoi last month. Tariffs on chicken and processed chicken meat, almonds, grapes, wheat, pork and […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
