With the ink still drying on a trade agreement that was supposed to reduce barriers to trade, a protectionist measure has shut out one of Canada's largest single product exports to Europe. Durum wheat shipments from Canada to Italy have been halted since October, shortly after the Italian government announced it was moving ahead with... Read More
Category: Markets
Grain markets were volatile this week with prices flip-flopping on what was more concerning — geopolitical risk or weather. Much less concerning were most of the largely market-anticipated USDA numbers. Some notable data-points from this week's WASDE (World Agricultural Supply and Demands Estimates): Russia’s wheat exports raised by 1 MMT to 38.5 million (a record);... Read More
Grain markets this week were extremely volatile as they digested all of the information thrown at them, particularly that out of Washington and Beijing. China proposed a 25% import tax on soybeans, which took the market by a huge surprise (and left many scratching their heads at how China plans to meet their feedstuff demand).... Read More
This week has been laced with trade threats, drama, and fear for agricultural commodity markets, all based on the possibility of a trade war between the U.S. and China. Most economists agree that though a trade war has yet to start, there is a serious flirtation with one. And no matter what President Trump tells... Read More
HyLife Foods celebrated the expansion of its hog processing plant in Neepawa, MB, this week — an expansion that has been driven by growing demand for Canadian pork in Japan and China. The La Broquerie-based company has added 100,000 square feet to the facility, including new cutting floor space, a shipping/packaging area, and more cooling... Read More
Grain markets finished the end of March and the calendar quarter on a bit of a high as the USDA provided a slightly bullish catalyst on the last day of trading. This could provide some active, but volatile, trading in the first week of April. Until Thursday, soybean prices and corn prices headed lower as... Read More
Add over a million acres of spring wheat, and subtract more than two million acres of soybeans... There were a few surprises in the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Prospective Plantings report published on Thursday. The department pegged soybean acres at 89.0 million acres — more than two million below the average trade estimate of 91.1... Read More
Grain markets this week took a bit of a geopolitical hit with a subdued approach to more talk of trade war. Specifically, this week, U.S. President Donald Trump announced plans to place tariffs on about $50 billion worth of Chinese imports. But China isn't ready to be pushed around. On Friday, the country announced a... Read More
Grain markets had another volatile week as we dealt with conflicting bullish and bearish variables including, but not limited to: exports, acreage forecasts, weather forecasts, and currency swings. Sounds like a normal week, right? First, the Canadian dollar lost nearly 2% this week to close under 76.5 cents USD. This is the first time it... Read More
Cattle and lean hogs futures have slid in the past 30 days as livestock producers look to protect themselves from downside risk. Besides oats, which are down 10% in the past month, the protein complex has been the worst performer of all the agricultural commodities in the last month. In the past 30 days: April... Read More