Bunge Ltd. welcomes Ottawa’s decision to dismantle the Canadian Wheat Board and is preparing to jump into Prairie grain handling, according to a story in the July 20 Globe and Mail.
In an interview while visiting Winnipeg, Bunge chief executive Alberto Weisser told the Globe that “The concept (of a board) is brilliant, but it’s how it is managed. And still the most efficient system is a free market, a complete free market.”
While Bunge is active in Prairie canola crushing and operates a large export elevator in Quebec City, it does not have significant handling facilities in Western Canada.
Read Also
Feed Grains Weekly: Domestic prices remain flat
Although there has been some upward movement in feed grain prices, particularly in Alberta, it’s not domestic demand that’s pushing them higher, said Jim Beusekom, president of Market Place Commodities in Lethbridge on Feb. 19.
That may change after the end of the CWB monopoly. It “will open up an opportunity for us in the West,” Soren Schroder, who runs Bunge’s North American division told the Globe. “It will allow companies like us to get in the chain from the farms to the overseas customers.”
The company is already making plans. “We are absolutely planning to be part of it,” he said.
