CME hog futures hit 3-month high; live cattle 5-week low

CHICAGO, May 16 (Reuters) – Chicago Mercantile Exchange lean hog futures on Tuesday reached their highest level since mid-February, fueled by strong cash and wholesale pork prices, traders said. June futures led gainers after investors bought that contract and sold deferred months, prompted by bullish market fundamentals, traders said. June  closed 1.475 cents per pound […] Read more


Friday wrap: canola rises, demand is still good

Canola futures closed the week on an up note, helping to pull the contracts almost even with where they were the previous Friday. Canola’s strength today came from a weaker loonie and concern about weekend rain on the Prairies slowing seeding pace. CLICK HERE FOR OUR WEEKLY CROP MARKET ANALYSIS VIDEO Also soybean oil rose […] Read more



Employees level grain on the cargo ship Kypros Land, which was loading soybeans to China at Tiplam terminal in Santos, Brazil, March 13. | REUTERS/Paulo Whitaker photo

Grain price still too high, says Bunge head

Huge stockpiles will eventually force prices down, causing growers to reduce acres, says Bunge official

The head of one of the world’s largest grain companies believes grains and oilseeds are overpriced and a day of reckoning lies ahead. Soren Schroder, chief executive officer of Bunge Ltd., recently told investment analysts that corn and soybean prices have not reflected the global glut of the commodities. “For some reason markets have been […] Read more


Record yields around the world have created large stockpiles and fewer planted acres are needed 
to bring crop commodity prices back up, says U.S. economist.  |  File photo

World needs to slash crop acres to cut grain surplus

WASHINGTON, D.C. — What will it take to drain the oceans of crop stocks that are drowning world crop prices? And how weird is it to see world crop stocks surge so much after the drought-induced shortfalls of 2012? “I don’t know how long it has been since we had four record years stack up back […] Read more

Phosphate production in countries like Morocco is expected to increase amid rising demand, which should help to keep prices stable.  |  REUTERS/Youssef Boudlal photo

Excess capacity will keep phosphate prices stable

Phosphate prices are likely to stay where they are as one major supplier of the product reduces exports at a time when two others are increasing world supplies. James O’Rourke, president of Mosaic Co., the world’s largest producer of the product, recently told investment analysts to expect reduced sales from China this year. “With economic […] Read more

Kansas crop tour sees good wheat before snow

MANHATTAN, Kan. (Reuters) — Wheat fields in Kansas, the top U.S. producer of the grain, were above average as crops benefited from good soil moisture, scouts on the annual Wheat Quality Council crop tour said May 4. However, scouts were unable to assess how late-season snow that fell over the weekend in the western part […] Read more


Canola, wheat markets face different dynamics

Confirmation last week of tight canola stocks in Canada helped to support the price of that crop, but even a punishing snowstorm in the heart of the U.S. winter wheat area couldn’t lift that crop’s price. Statistics Canada said 6.6 million tonnes of canola were on hand March 31, down 23 percent from last year […] Read more

India may move on fumigation issue

Pulse crops Saskatchewan Pulse Growers says there has been a positive development in an ongoing market access issue with India. India has posted draft amendments to a plant quarantine order that had previously threatened to derail exports to Canada’s top pulse market. The document suggests India is willing to recognize and accept Canada’s systems approach […] Read more