Markets
The pace of Western Canada’s 2018-19 grain exports through the Port of Vancouver is off to a relatively slow start, according to data compiled by the Grain Monitoring Program. Through Week 3 of the 2018-19 crop year, total export shipments through the Port of Vancouver were listed at 731,000 tonnes. That’s down 31 percent from […] Read more
Markets
Statistics Canada pegs canola, wheat lower
Sentiment and opinion fell to technical needs and short coverings Friday, as the commodity markets prepared for a long weekend. A NAFTA-talks softened Canadian dollar added to the lifting effect on canola, along with new Canadian, lower crop estimates from the federal government. Canola was up slightly, 60 cents per tonne, on the day for […] Read more
Prairie wheat bids down again with U.S. futures
Winnipeg – Wheat bids in Western Canada continued to fall during the week ended Aug. 30, following the lead of the United States futures markets. Average Canada Western Red Spring (13.5 percent CWRS) wheat prices were down by C$4 to C$6 per tonne, according to price quotes from a cross-section of delivery points compiled by […] Read more
Wheat pricing needs to wait
The best wheat prices will likely occur in the second half of the 2018-19 marketing year, say analysts. A rumour surfaced on Aug. 17 that Russia’s agriculture ministry was considering curbing exports once they reached 30 million tonnes. That caused a spike in international wheat prices, but prices quickly came back down after Russia’s agriculture […] Read more
Electric vehicle revolution poses threat to biofuel
Several times on a recent vacation in Vancouver, sleek vehicles with an unfamiliar model badge would catch my eye. They turned out to be Teslas, electric cars made by the new company created by high-tech entrepreneur Elon Musk. You tend to see a lot more high-end vehicles in Vancouver than you do in Saskatchewan and […] Read more
Annual harvest feedgrain drag less severe
Healthy exports and dry conditions are easing the usual harvest pricing pressure on prairie feedgrains this year
Farmers’ urgency to sell off the combine is pressuring western Canadian feedgrain prices, but the weight is not as heavy as usual. “It feels like we’re seeing all producers wanting movement right away here, and that’s kind of putting some downward pressure on the price,” said Nelson Neumann, a junior trader at Agfinity at Stony […] Read more
Diving hog prices more of a grey swan than black swan
It’s been 10 years since the world learned what a black swan was, embracing the concept as the best-feeling explanation for the 2008-09 worldwide financial crisis. Today it’s worth looking back at that concept and book, by trader and supremely arrogant pontificator Nassim Nicholas Taleb, to see if we’ve learned its primary lessons, because we […] Read more
Beef demand continues to keep prices stable
LONDON, Ont. — Solid demand for beef is holding up prices. “We continue probably to be in fairly impressive markets and we continue to look at the big supplies coming down the pipeline … with very solid demand for domestic consumers and internationally,” Brian Perillat, senior market analyst at Canfax, said during the Canadian Beef […] Read more
Cereals lower, while canola rises on soft dollar
Soybean oil and a softer Canadian dollar helped canola move up on Thursday’s markets, as traders gave back some of the previous two weeks declines. November canola finished at $495, up $3.70 per tonne on ICE futures. January rose above $500, up $4.10 to $502, March up the same, to $506.90 and May was up […] Read more
Turmoil in South America threatens soybean crop
South American soybean yields could be down in 2018-19 for a variety of reasons, says an analyst. Weakening currencies in Brazil and Argentina mean imported fertilizer will be more expensive this year. In Brazil, an 11-day trucker strike in May resulted in the government agreeing to allow truckers to charge higher freight rates. That will […] Read more
