Markets
Senior trade official says U.S. having difficult time persuading Asian country to live up to its Phase One commitments
The agricultural trade relationship between the United States and China is fragile, according to the U.S. Trade Representative. “(It is) extremely difficult and getting more difficult,” Katherine Tai told U.S. agriculture secretary Tom Vilsack in a sit-down interview at the USDA’s 98th Annual Agricultural Outlook Forum. Former U.S. president Donald Trump signed the Phase One […] Read more
Markets
Australian canola production makes huge jump
Growers harvested 6.4 million tonnes as weather conditions co-operated on both the east and west sides of the country
Australia’s 2021-22 canola crop shattered the previous record. The Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences estimates the country produced 6.4 million tonnes of the oilseed, destroying last year’s record of 4.5 million tonnes. “It certainly is an anomaly and quite unexpected,” Australian Oilseeds Federation executive officer Nick Goddard said in an email. […] Read more
Invasion of Ukraine increases possibility of stagflation
Russian president Vladimir Putin shocked most of the world when he launched a military assault on Ukraine. He also shocked commodity and financial markets, which are racing to catch up with the reality that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is unlikely to be resolved soon. Industries worldwide are facing the prospect that all commodities in which […] Read more
Putin’s disastrous war threatens global food security
Countries that rely on Russian and Ukraine grain to meet a large part of their wheat and corn needs must be feeling nervous about where they will get supply. It’s an immediate concern as Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine disrupts the latter’s ability to ship and to seed crops and the former’s ability to conduct […] Read more
Price limits blamed for futures market volatility
Practice intended to prevent extreme price changes, but study finds it causes liquidity to fall in futures, options markets
Futures markets protect price discovery and liquidity by imposing price limit controls, right? Nope, says a new analysis by Xinyue He and Teresa Serra of the University of Illinois published by the American Journal of Agricultural Economics Feb. 21. “We find that price limits neither reduce volatility nor improve liquidity,” they wrote. Instead, they add […] Read more
War may not cause big wheat acre jump
A 50 to 60 percent increase in global wheat prices might not be enough to entice growers in Western Canada to plant a lot more of the crop this spring, according to some farmers and analysts. “For me, I won’t be changing anything, and I’d say that’s probably 75 percent of farms,” said Stephen Vandervalk, […] Read more
WP livestock report
Hogs The U.S. national live price average for barrows and gilts was $74.92 March 4, up from $72.64 Feb. 25. U.S. hogs averaged $97.41 on a carcass basis March 4, up from $87.78 Feb. 25. The U.S. pork cutout was $103.99 per hundredweight Feb. 18, down from $113.32 Feb. 25. The estimated U.S. weekly slaughter […] Read more
Canfax report
This cattle market information is selected from the weekly report from Canfax, a division of the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association. More market information, analysis and statistics are available by becoming a Canfax subscriber by calling 403-275-5110 or at www.canfax.ca. Fed supplies ample Alberta fed prices firmed $1 per hundredweight higher last week on modestly improved competition, […] Read more
China wheat crop report perplexes analysts
Amid market turmoil caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the world’s biggest wheat producer just announced it may be harvesting its worst crop in history. Tang Renjian, China’s minister of agriculture and rural affairs, recently told reporters that heavy rainfall and flooding in fall 2021 delayed the seeding of about one-third of the country’s winter […] Read more
Rallies pause as markets digest Russia supply shock
LONDON, March 9 (Reuters) – Commodity prices eased on Wednesday after rallies to multi-year highs as markets digested supply disruption from Russia and Ukraine, major producers of energy, metals and crops. Prices of commodities such as oil, wheat and grains have rocketed since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, with sanctions causing many shippers to […] Read more
