International buyers turned to new suppliers during recent drought years, and it will be difficult to get the business back
Buyers from around the world were in Winnipeg last week for the Canadian Pulse and Special Crops Trade Convention.
However, the sobering news for Canadian farmers, marketers and processors was that those buyers don’t always have to rely on Canada these days.
“For a number of crops, like durum, like flax, Canadian isn’t the … only show in town any more,” said Chuck Penner of LeftField Commodity Research.
Read Also
New fertilizer product aims to reduce tie-up, improve soil health
A new phosphorus fertilizer, launched at Ag in Motion 2025, promises to reduce nutrient tie-up and deliver slow-release feeding throughout the growing season.
“We need to be more cognizant of what’s going on in the rest of the world.”
Indeed, presenter after presenter at the convention talked about how foreign competitors to Canada have taken advantage of the country’s drought-reduced pulse and special crops production to move into traditional Canadian markets. With Canada lacking some of the same preferential trading relations as competitors, regaining market share could be a problem.
For example, Brazil was long a decent market for Canadian canaryseed exports. No longer.
“We have lost that to Argentina,” noted Marlene Boersch of Mercantile Consulting Venture.
“I don’t think we’ll recover that.”
It’s one factor in a long and troubling trend of decline in canaryseed exports, from almost 160,000 tonnes in 2014 to below 120,000 today, according to Boersch.
New Eastern European production of mustard has been displacing Canadian sales to Western Europe. Good weather in Australia has allowed its growers to greatly boost average pulse production in recent years, eagerly serving markets in South Asia and Southeast Asia.
Russian pulse and special crops are available to well-paying markets in China and other long time Canadian markets. India has close trading and strategic relations with Russia.
Canada has established strong trade ties with many nations in the Asia-Pacific region, especially through the establishment of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.
However, that doesn’t include countries such as India, which has a trade deal with Australia. Many small but vital pulse and special crop markets are not part of Canada’s many existing trade deals.
“Trade agreements would definitely be an asset because it’s definitely helping other origins and destinations,” said Loveraj Rai, chief operating officer of ETG Commodities.
The Canadian government has recently responded to pleas from Canada’s agriculture industry for better representation in East Asia by establishing a new trade office in Manila, Philippines. The move drew praise across Canada’s export-oriented industries.
Diedrah Kelly, executive director for the new Indo-Pacific Agriculture and Agri-Food Office, attended the conference and took the opportunity to speak with many overseas buyers and Canadian exporters, as well as encouraging attendees to take advantage of her presence close to booming markets.
“We want to work collaboratively,” said Kelly.
Since CPTPP came into force, Vietnam’s imports of Canadian goods, especially food and agriculture products, has soared, she noted. All around Asia, there is a growing middle class and a growing desire for nutritious and safe high-quality food, something Canada can provide.
However, Kelly noted, Canadian exporters and marketers need to ensure they establish good relationships with buyers because “relationships matter.”
Potential customers from Asia have been confused by Canadians who have offered to supply agricultural products but then “ghosted” them when the customers tried to make a deal.
Some foreign buyers suspect Canadian companies only care about sales to China, so exporters need to ensure that if they are going to make promises to non-Chinese buyers, they are willing to deliver on those promises.
With drought having ravaged Canadian production for years, some of the lost overseas sales were inevitably going to happen. Alternative suppliers were going to find their way to the best-paying markets.
Simpson Seeds president Elyce Simpson Fraser said the development of a broader base of world suppliers isn’t a surprise.
“We were never in a position to be able to produce everything global demand is demanding from us,” she said.
“There were always going to be other origins that were going to use their land (to supply good markets).”
Some of Canada’s pulse and special crops have rebounded from the worst of the drought conditions, despite severe drought still hitting a number of areas in southwestern Saskatchewan and eastern Alberta. Crops are being exported as they come in to the transportation and marketing system.
How much of the overseas market has been lost in the long-term to new and strengthened competitors won’t be clear for a while, but few challenge the idea that Canada is no longer the only shop in town for the world’s needs.
