Reading Time: 4 minutes The grain handler built out from the foundations of the former Prairie pools is set to be absorbed into one of the world’s biggest grain trading firms in a cash-and-stock deal. After the news leaked out last month, Rotterdam-based Viterra confirmed Tuesday morning it’s “concluded an agreement” to merge into Bunge — the St. Louis-based […] Read more
Bunge, Viterra confirm marriage plans
Firms to merge under Bunge banner
Bunge, Viterra merger would create global ag trading giant
Companies have some overlap in Canadian crushing
Reading Time: 3 minutes Reuters — A merger of U.S. grains merchant Bunge Ltd. with rival Viterra would grow the combined entity’s businesses in the U.S., Brazil and Australia and may raise competition concerns in parts of Canada and Argentina, where key oilseed processing assets overlap, analysts said. Sources last week said Bunge and Viterra were in talks for […] Read more
Shallow Mississippi River expected to persist as dry winter hits U.S. South
River levels at historic lows this fall
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — Low water levels on the Mississippi River are likely to persist this winter as drier-than-normal weather is expected across the southern U.S. and Gulf Coast, U.S. government forecasters said on Thursday. Drought, which currently spans 59 per cent of the country, is expected to continue or worsen in the middle and lower Mississippi […] Read more
Is Canada’s coming Indo-Pacific strategy too little, too late?
Canada has high hopes to grow its agriculture trade in the Indo-Pacific region, but strategists say Canada must look beyond trade or face continued irrelevance
Reading Time: 5 minutes Glacier FarmMedia – If Canada wants to continue to grow its agriculture trade in one of the fastest growing regions of the globe, it needs a new strategy. It needs to reconsider its ‘trade mission’ diplomacy strategy in the Indo-Pacific region and become relevant to the countries there. “Economic interests can no longer be separated […] Read more
CP to lock out engineers, conductors starting Sunday
'Cannot prolong the uncertainty,' CEO says
Reading Time: 3 minutes Canadian Pacific Railway has served its unionized engineers, conductors and train and yard service staff with notice of a lockout to start just after midnight ET on Sunday, unless the company and union agree on a new labour deal by then. Calgary-based CP and the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC), which represents about 3,000 CP […] Read more
Spring road bans coming into effect across Prairies
Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — Warming temperatures and melting snow across Western Canada may cause some disruptions to grain and livestock movement over the next few weeks as seasonal spring road restrictions come into effect across the Prairies. Annual spring road restrictions set axle weight limits for vehicles moving on certain roads, in an effort to reduce the […] Read more
Viterra to buy Marubeni’s U.S. grain firm Gavilon
Grain handler looking to expand reach in Americas through acquisitions
Reading Time: 3 minutes Grain firm Viterra’s plans to buy an expanded global reach are about to move forward with a 10-figure deal for the bulk of U.S. ag commodity firm Gavilon’s grain business. Viterra, owned by commodities firm Glencore and two Canadian public-sector pension funds, announced Wednesday it will pay $1.125 billion to buy Omaha-based Gavilon from the […] Read more
Grain flow uncertain as floods halt B.C. rail, road traffic
Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — It’s too early yet to determine the effect of massive floods in British Columbia’s Lower Mainland on grain movement, according to the company monitoring Canada’s grain handling and transportation system. Up to 200 millimetres of rain earlier this week have triggered mudslides and cut access to rail lines and highways east of Vancouver. […] Read more
Viterra seeking expansion in Americas, Australia, sources say
Reading Time: 2 minutes London | Reuters — Swiss miner and trader Glencore and its partners are looking at options to expand their agricultural joint venture Viterra, including targeted bolt-on acquisitions in the Americas and Australia, two sources close to the matter said. The firm, formerly known as Glencore Agriculture, made the headlines in 2017 for a failed takeover […] Read more
Lytton bridge re-opened but grain movement ‘hit and miss’
B.C. wildfires continue to disrupt Prairie grain movement
Reading Time: 4 minutes Canadian National Railway’s fire-damaged bridge at Lytton, B.C. reopened for traffic Tuesday — but all train movement, including for grain, through British Columbia’s wildfire-ravaged southern Interior, is “hit and miss” and will remain so until the fire risk lessens. “Both (CN and Canadian Pacific Railway) are having troubles because there are so many fires in […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
