London | Reuters — Swiss miner and trader Glencore and its partners are looking at options to expand their agricultural joint venture Viterra, including targeted bolt-on acquisitions in the Americas and Australia, two sources close to the matter said. The firm, formerly known as Glencore Agriculture, made the headlines in 2017 for a failed takeover […] Read more
Viterra seeking expansion in Americas, Australia, sources say
Cargill close to resolving slow grain payments to farmers
Producers delivering now can expect their money right away, but the firm is still working on some payments for previously delivered grain
Cargill is closer to fixing problems with paying farmers promptly for their delivered grain. “They [Cargill] have worked through most of the issues,” Canadian Grain Commission spokesman Remi Gosselin said in an interview Tuesday. “Our understanding at the grain commission is that there should be no issues on a go-forward basis for future deliveries and […] Read more
Port of Churchill out of commission for two years
The sight of grain vessels being loaded at the Port of Churchill in northern Manitoba won’t happen for two years, according to Sheldon Affleck, chief executive officer of the Arctic Gateway Group (AGG). The group consists of 29 Indigenous and a dozen non-Indigenous communities that own and operate the rail line from The Pas to […] Read more
‘Containergeddon’ drives sugar, rice shippers back to bulk vessels
New York | Reuters — Food traders are switching from containers back to dry bulk vessels to transport refined sugar and rice, hoping to avoid shipping delays caused by container shortages and port congestion the industry is calling “containergeddon,” according to traders. Container-based transportation has been hit by sky-high costs and delays amid booming shipping […] Read more
CN CEO to retire as investor pressure weighs
Shareholder TCI has replacement in mind
Reuters — Canadian National Railway (CN) said on Tuesday its CEO Jean-Jacques Ruest will retire at the end of January, following investor demands for his exit after the railroad operator’s failed bid for Kansas City Southern. TCI Fund Management, which owns five per cent of Canadian National, in August pitched former Jim Vena — a […] Read more
The Big Surge: Elevator capacity soaring across the Prairies
The growth in the last four years has been phenomenal
Reading Time: 5 minutes The business of building grain elevators is — pardon the pun — on a runaway train. The growth has been, by any measure, phenomenal. In just the last four years, elevator companies have added 1.2 million tonnes of storage — a 16 per cent jump. And that expansion train isn’t slowing down. Late last month, […] Read more
No evidence trains sparked Lytton fire, TSB says
Transportation Safety Board now stepping out of ongoing fire probe
There’s no proof the fire that largely destroyed a British Columbia village, damaged a key rail bridge and led to cuts in rail speed limits in high-risk areas was sparked by train traffic, the federal Transportation Safety Board says. The TSB on Thursday said its investigation, launched in early July, “has not revealed any evidence […] Read more
Cargill, ADM sell GrainBridge to ag software firm Bushel
'Network effect' expected in grains sector
An online service farmers use to manage grain sales with ADM’s elevators and processing plants across Canada — along with Cargill and ADM elevators in the U.S. — is under new ownership. ADM and Cargill, the two major U.S.-based agribusinesses that set up GrainBridge in 2019, announced Tuesday they’ve sold it to Bushel, a Fargo, […] Read more
‘Containergeddon’: Supply crisis drives Walmart, rivals to hire own ships
Bulk grain ships pressed into container service
Los Angeles | Reuters — The Flying Buttress once glided across the oceans carrying vital commodities such as grain to all corners of the world. Now it bears a different treasure: Paw Patrol Movie Towers, Batmobile Transformers and Baby Alive Lulu Achoo dolls. The dry bulk cargo ship has been drafted into the service of […] Read more
Canola exports down 72 per cent through eight weeks
MarketsFarm — Canadian canola and wheat exports continue to run well behind the year-ago pace, with movement of all crops down 34 per cent through the first eight weeks of the 2021-22 crop year. Total exports of all of the major grains, oilseeds and pulses as of Sunday, at 4.714 million tonnes, are down by […] Read more