Reading Time: 2 minutes Beijing | Reuters –– In the tense trade war with the United States, China’s government has turned to an unlikely weapon: a cartoon bean. “Hi, everybody. I am a soybean. I may not look like much, but I’m very important,” says the animated character in a video posted on Friday on the website of China […] Read more
‘Hi, I’m a soybean’: China deploys cartoon legume to reach U.S. farmers
U.S. grains: Soy rises from 10-year low set on trade war
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — U.S. soybean futures jumped on Monday after dropping to their lowest prices in a decade earlier in the session, as the U.S.-China trade dispute looms over agricultural markets. Technical buying helped soybeans to recover after the most-active contract lost more than five per cent last week, traders said. The trade dispute […] Read more
Trump pardons Oregon ranchers who inspired refuge standoff
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday pardoned two imprisoned Oregon ranchers whose sentencing on arson convictions sparked the 2016 occupation of a wildlife refuge, part of a long-simmering dispute over federal land policies in the U.S. West. The armed standoff at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in remote southeast Oregon followed a judge’s […] Read more
U.S. biofuels industry, advocates see hope in Pruitt’s successor
Reading Time: 2 minutes New York | Reuters — Corn growers and biofuel producers cheered the resignation of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt in the hope that his successor may give them more access and fewer threats to reducing domestic requirements. Pruitt led U.S. President Donald Trump’s aggressive efforts to roll back environmental protections. He drew the […] Read more
U.S. grains: Soybeans down on trade war worry
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — U.S. soybean futures closed at their lowest level in more than two years on Monday while corn fell to fresh contract lows on strong U.S. crop prospects and worries about trade fights with China and other main export partners. Wheat also retreated as rising supplies from the U.S. winter crop harvest […] Read more
U.S. grains: Soy futures consolidate day after 10-year low
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — U.S. soybean and corn futures ended nearly flat on Wednesday, consolidating one day after the front soybean contract plunged to a near 10-year low on trade tensions and favorable Midwest crop weather, analysts said. Chicago Board of Trade wheat futures rose more than two per cent in technical moves, including traders […] Read more
CBOT weekly outlook: Tariff spats put markets in precarious spot
Reading Time: 2 minutes CNS Canada — The Chicago Board of Trade soybean market is in recovery mode following a wild day where contracts hit nearly a 10-year low. “It was one of the craziest days we’ve seen in recent memory yesterday. And volume was just absolutely through the roof,” said Terry Reilly, a senior commodity analyst with Futures […] Read more
Trump says ‘getting there’ in NAFTA talks
Reading Time: 2 minutes Washington | Reuters — U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday progress was being made in slow-moving talks to update the NAFTA trade accord between the U.S., Canada and Mexico, but he held out the prospect of striking bilateral pacts if a three-way deal could not be reached. “We’re trying to equalize it. It’s not […] Read more
U.S. soybeans stay on China’s retaliation list for Trump tariffs
Reading Time: 4 minutes Washington/Beijing | Reuters — U.S. President Donald Trump said he was pushing ahead with hefty tariffs on US$50 billion of Chinese imports on Friday, and the smoldering trade war between the world’s two largest economies showed signs of igniting as Beijing immediately vowed to respond in kind. Trump laid out a list of more than […] Read more
ICE weekly outlook: Canola facing uncertainty
Reading Time: < 1 minute CNS Canada — ICE Futures Canada canola contracts fell to their lowest levels in more than three months during the week ended Wednesday, but could still have more room to the downside given the general sense of global trade uncertainty. “Every commodity trader in North America or globally is scared to death right now,” said […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
