After a couple of years in the doldrums, the mustard market is giving signs of coming back to life.
Foreign buyers are asking Canada to bring on the mustard.
Exports of the spicy oilseed are forecast to increase to 140,000 tonnes in 2011-12, according to Agriculture Canada market analysts.
That’s up from 120,000 tonnes in 2010-11, 128,000 two years ago and 131,000 tonnes the previous year.
Farmers attending the Saskatchewan Mustard Development Commission meeting earlier this year heard that prices will likely remain weak for the remainder of 2010-11 barring a major catastrophe in the market and so far there’s no indication of that happening.
Read Also
Alberta’s beets a sweet domestic segment in Canada’s sugar supply
The sugar beet industry is showcased during a Farm to Table tour, as Taber features the last remaining sugar beet processing plant in all of Canada.
Having said that, prices are also expected to rise to an average range of $545 to $575 per tonne in 2011-12, according to Agriculture Canada. That’s up from $525-$555 the previous year and $510 the year before that.
However, that falls far short of 2008- 09 when the average was $845 a tonne.
A mustard trader with Lakeside Global Grains in Dafoe, Sask., who asked that his name not be used, said prices are rising.
“Since late January we’ve seen some upward movement in the market prices,” he said.
“It’s not necessarily associated to laws of supply and demand but rather to sparking interest among our growers to get them interested in mustard again.”
Brown and yellow mustard prices have risen by about $160 to $220 a tonne since January. Brown is now $620 to $660 a tonne and yellow is $705.Oriental has risen by about $120 to $570 to $610 a tonne.
He said it was important for the industry to boost farmers’ interest in mustard during the winter.
“The concern was mustard acreage was going to drop dramatically but it’s more a reflection of speculation than actual demand at this point.”
Statistics Canada expects 265,000 acres of mustard thi year, down from 370,000 last year. He expects mustard supply and demand will remain stable in the next couple of months.
There’s not a lot of demand coming to the table and not of lot of growers selling at current prices.
One issue of potential concern could be wet planting conditions, which is not favoured by mustard.
