Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — Canadian grain and oilseed exports are running well ahead of the year-ago level eight weeks into the 2020-21 marketing year, according to the latest data from the Canadian Grain Commission. Total bulk exports of the major grains and oilseeds, as of Sunday, of 7.17 million tonnes compare with the six million exported during […] Read more
Wheat, canola exports ahead of year-ago pace
Grain exports flow fast as pandemic lockdowns clear rail capacity
Traffic accelerates on lower coal, crude volumes
Reading Time: 2 minutes Winnipeg | Reuters — Canadian grain exporters are boosting sales in a slumping global economy, as demand for commodities like oil weakens and frees up railway space. Brisk crop movement in a country that relies heavily on rail is a bright spot during pandemic lockdowns, which have hammered most industries. “We’ve had an almost unlimited […] Read more
Russia will suspend grain exports for six weeks if quota runs out mid-May
Several supplies to Egypt might be affected, traders say
Reading Time: 2 minutes Moscow | Reuters — Russia, the world’s biggest wheat exporter, will suspend grain exports until July 1 once its export quota is exhausted, which is currently expected to happen in mid-May, its deputy agriculture minister Oksana Lut said on Friday. Russia last fully banned wheat exports in 2010 when drought hit its harvest, rocking global […] Read more
Handlers focus on keeping grain moving despite COVID-19
Grain companies, Canadian Grain Commission working but unsure of future
Reading Time: 3 minutes Canada’s grain companies are committed to keeping grain moving to domestic and export customers, but how the spread of COVID-19 might affect business is still an unknown, says Wade Sobkowich, executive director of the Western Grain Elevator Association. “We are are going to do everything in our power to keep grain moving at this time,” […] Read more
Grains sector backed to develop export rejection insurance
Code of practice for 'sustainable' crops also in works
Reading Time: 2 minutes The organization representing Canada’s crops sector will get public funding to develop an insurance plan against the “unpredictability” of export customers. Federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau, speaking Wednesday at the CropConnect conference in Winnipeg, announced over $430,000 for the Canada Grains Council to develop a pilot insurance product for grain exporters. Such an insurance plan […] Read more
Virus fears weigh on global shipping sector
Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — Global shipping rates continue to decline, hitting record lows in some cases, amid declining demand and concerns over the coronavirus outbreak in China. The Baltic Dry Index (BDI), compiled by the London-based Baltic Exchange, provides an assessment of the price of moving major raw materials by sea. The BDI has fallen for 13 […] Read more
Ocean freight index hits five-and-a-half year highs
Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — The Baltic Dry Index (BDI) has steadily increased over the past few months, hitting its highest levels in five-and-a-half years. The BDI settled Tuesday at 2,011 points, the highest level for the ocean freight rate indicator since January 2014. The BDI has been on a steady uptrend since hitting a two-and-a-half year low […] Read more
Visible Canadian canola stocks back above one million tonnes
Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — Solid deliveries into the commercial pipeline and lacklustre export movement saw visible Canadian canola supplies climb back above one million tonnes during the week ended June 9, according to the latest grain handling report from the Canadian Grain Commission. Farmers delivered 422,500 tonnes of canola during week 45 of the 2018-19 crop year […] Read more
Views differ on crop exports to China other than canola
Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — Depending on whom one has spoken with, there are differing views as to grain exports to China other than canola. The federal government has stated there have been no export issues outside of canola. “The current actions taken by China are limited to canola seed, and we have not received any indication of […] Read more
Baltic Dry Index near 2-1/2-year lows
Reading Time: < 1 minute The Baltic Dry Index (BDI) has dropped sharply over the past two months, as declining global demand for commodities — especially from China — weighed on the economic indicator. The BDI, compiled daily by the London-based Baltic Exchange, provides an assessment of the price of moving major raw materials by sea, including grain. The BDI […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
