Reading Time: 6 minutes For the first instalment in our five-part series this fall and winter, we sat down with Calgary-based grain market adviser and regular Country Guide contributor Errol Anderson for his insights into what to look for in markets this year. The billion-dollar question, Anderson says, is what will happen in China. Other issues are important too, […] Read more
The China (economic) factor and Canadian agriculture
Does China’s economic slowdown have to be bad news for Canada’s farmers? We ask Errol Anderson, does he see hope in the year ahead?
After food, now Russia burns Dutch flowers
Reading Time: 3 minutes Moscow | Reuters –– A week after angering many in Russia by burning illegally imported Western food, authorities have started feeding Dutch flowers to the flames. Officials say blooms from the Netherlands, which supplies much of Russia’s US$2.5 billion flower market, pose safety risks because they may be infected. Critics say the “flower war” marks […] Read more
Russia to add more countries to food import ban list
Reading Time: < 1 minute Moscow | Reuters — Russia said on Tuesday it planned to add new countries to the list of those from which it has banned food imports in retaliation for western sanctions imposed on Moscow over the Ukraine crisis. Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich did not name the countries to be added to the list. “I […] Read more
Russian ‘food crematoria’ spur outrage
Reading Time: 4 minutes Moscow | Reuters — Russian government plans for mass destruction of banned Western food imports have provoked outrage in a country where poverty rates are soaring and memories remain of famine during Soviet times. Even some Kremlin allies are expressing shock at the idea of “food crematoria” while one orthodox priest has denounced the campaign, […] Read more
Russia, Ukraine may cut grain crop forecasts as temperatures rise
Reading Time: 2 minutes Moscow/Kiev | Reuters — Major Black Sea wheat exporters Russia and Ukraine may cut their official 2015 grain crop forecasts as recent hot weather has raised the risks to plants and rains elsewhere have delayed the harvest and dented quality, farmers and officials said. Russia and Ukraine’s agriculture ministries have said if hot weather persists […] Read more
Russian PM says can change list of banned imports
Reading Time: < 1 minute Moscow | Reuters –– A list of Western products that Russia has banned could be changed according to the state of relations with the European Union and other countries, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said on Thursday. Medvedev told a government meeting he had approved an order, initiated by President Vladimir Putin, to extend a […] Read more
Putin adds another year to ban on Western food imports
Reading Time: < 1 minute Moscow | Reuters –– Russian President Vladimir Putin has extended the country’s ban on food imports from the West by one year, longer than had been expected, in retaliation to the extension of European sanctions against Moscow over Ukraine. The ban, which prohibits most food imports from the U.S., the European Union, Australia, Canada and […] Read more
Russia to extend ban on Western food imports to early 2016
Reading Time: < 1 minute Moscow | Reuters — Russia plans to extend a ban on Western food imports for six months starting from early August, after the European Union extended its own sanctions against Moscow, Russian officials said Monday. European Union foreign ministers extended economic sanctions against Russia until Jan. 31 on Monday, keeping up pressure on Moscow to […] Read more
Uncertainty over Russia’s wheat export tax seen slowing trade
Reading Time: 2 minutes Moscow/Abu Dhabi | Reuters –– Uncertainty over Russia’s new wheat export tax is slowing trade activity as traders who have signed forward contracts say they are unsure about how the formula will be implemented. The floating tax formula, to be launched from July 1, is intended to stop exports surging if the rouble drops steeply, […] Read more
New Russian wheat tax puts exporters, traders on edge
Reading Time: 2 minutes Moscow | Reuters –– Russia approved the launch of a new wheat export tax from July 1, which traders say could threaten profits on advance contracts for the new crop if the rouble weakens in coming months. Russia’s government said Friday that the new tax was intended to stop exports surging if the rouble drops […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
