Reading Time: 2 minutes Dubai/London | Reuters — Saudi Arabia said on Wednesday it had completed the first batch of its flour milling sector privatization, according to a statement by the state grain buyer and privatization centre. The long-awaited flour mills sale was one of the first privatizations the kingdom planned as part of a wide-reaching overhaul of its […] Read more
Saudi Arabia completes first phase of flour mill privatization
Solid grain exports continue through Thunder Bay
June's handle includes record-large CP grain train
Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — Grain shipments through the Port of Thunder Bay continue to run at a strong pace, with season-to-date volumes of 3.2 million tonnes, up 35 per cent from the five-year average, according to an update from the port. A total of 866,066 tonnes of grain were shipped through the port, located on the northern […] Read more
Ocean freight rate index moving higher
Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — Ocean freight rates have shown steady gains over the past month, rising to some of their highest levels of 2020 as world economies show signs of recovery amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The Baltic Dry Index (BDI), a major indicator of shipping rates, has moved higher for 12 straight sessions, hitting 973 points on […] Read more
Grain exports continue strong out of Thunder Bay
COVID-19 leads to increased demand, reduced oil traffic by rail
Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — The Port of Thunder Bay reported another strong grain handling month in May, as more than 1.1 million tonnes of Canadian grain and oilseeds moved through the harbour on the northern shores of Lake Superior during the month. Increased demand from many countries stockpiling grain amidst the global COVID-19 pandemic was cited as […] Read more
Fuel, labour to pull grain freight cost indices lower
CP's share buybacks also a factor in its VRCPI
Reading Time: 2 minutes The numbers that decide how much revenue Canada’s big two railways get to keep from Prairie grain handling have been marked downward for the 2020-21 crop year. The Canadian Transportation Agency last week announced it will set the volume-related composite price index (VRCPI) at 1.4202 for Canadian National Railway (CN) and at 1.4205 for Canadian […] Read more
Feed weekly outlook: Slaughterhouse closures lead to adjustments
Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — The closure of one of Canada’s largest beef slaughterhouses will lead to adjustments in the cattle feeding sector, as animals will be fed longer but on different rations. Cargill’s meat processing plant at High River, Alta. slaughters roughly 40 per cent of all the cattle butchered in Canada. The plant is to be […] Read more
Manitoba eases load limits for grains, livestock, vegetables, fertilizer
'Essential' commodities allowed at normal axle weights on more roads
Reading Time: 2 minutes Springtime load limits on certain Manitoba highways will be lifted early this year for transport of crops, livestock, fertilizer and other “essential” goods. Provincial Infrastructure Minister Ron Schuler announced Tuesday that certain essential goods may be trucked at “normal loading” axle weights on highways usually subject to Level 1 road restrictions during spring thaw. Essential […] Read more
Lots of flour to go around, millers’ association says
System is 'doing extremely well' and should have no problem keeping up with demand, CNMA's Gordon Harrison says
Reading Time: 2 minutes The grain supply chain is working as it should during the COVID-19 pandemic, says the president of the Canadian National Millers Association. “From the milling industry vantage point, the movement of grain from farm to the producer to the elevator systems to mills is doing extremely well,” Gordon Harrison said Tuesday. “The grain supply chain […] Read more
Prairie elevators’ staff aim for on-site distancing
Cargill, P+H elevators stay open but with arm's-length approach
Reading Time: 2 minutes At least two Prairie grain handling firms plan to continue taking deliveries from farmers during the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic — but to make the process as touchless as possible. Cargill, in a email to customers Wednesday, said its Canadian grain elevators, crush plants and ag input retail sites will remain open for deliveries and pickups, […] Read more
Fraser: What will be the long-term impact of COVID-19?
Analysis: A pandemic runs the risk of driving nations further apart
Reading Time: 2 minutes As developments around the COVID-19 coronavirus change rapidly, I can’t help but speculate on the longer-term effects of it. By now, much has been made of the economic impact it — alongside the Saudi Arabia-Russia oil trade war — will have on global economies. While it’s guesswork to estimate the total impact without knowing how […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
