CNS Canada — The Black Sea region’s oilseed crop for 2018-19 is estimated 160,000 tonnes higher, at 43.36 million tonnes, according to the latest estimates by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In its October estimates, USDA estimated Ukraine rapeseed production would come in at 100,000 tonnes more than previous estimates to 2.7 million tonnes. Turkey’s […] Read more
World crop briefs: Black Sea’s oilseed yields seen larger

U.S. grains: Wheat, corn climb on bargain-buying
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. wheat futures closed higher Tuesday on a technical bounce a day after the spot July contract neared a two-week low, and on worries about dry weather in the Black Sea crop region, analysts said. Corn also advanced, rebounding from a two-month low, while soybeans closed mixed as nearby contracts lost […] Read more

Face-to-face visits with our customers pay dividends
You may not know that some of your wheat goes to Nigeria or why building relationships with new customers is so vital
Reading Time: 3 minutes Who are Canada’s top wheat customers? Some of the answers to that question, such as Japan, will be no surprise to anyone. But many would not expect to see one of our newest top customers, Nigeria, on the list. Fifteen to 20 years ago, I would have never guessed that I would be in Nigeria […] Read more

Prairie flax market flat, acres set to decline
CNS Canada — A flat flax market in Western Canada has buyers feeling indifferent about this year’s prospects. “There’s no big hurrahs right now on flax… I hate to say it, I’m a very optimistic type of person, but it’s kind of a flat market right now,” said Ben Friesen, senior market manager at Scoular […] Read more
G3 co-owner SALIC looking at Iraq farmland
Dubai | Reuters –– The Saudi Agricultural and Livestock Investment Company (SALIC) is looking at more farmland investment opportunities and has its neighbour Iraq on the list. SALIC, an arm of the country’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), said it was also looking to expand its investments in the Black Sea region, which already includes almost […] Read more

A tsunami of Black Sea wheat is flooding global markets
The Black Sea troika of wheat producers used to be minnows — now they’re giants and still growing
Reading Time: 3 minutes The Russians aren’t coming, they’ve already arrived. And they’ve been joined by the Kazakhs and Ukrainians. The surge of wheat exports from Black Sea producers into global grain markets isn’t new, but most Prairie farmers may not appreciate just how strong they’ve become. “Russia continues to dominate the global wheat export trade,” market analyst Marlene […] Read more

U.S. grains: Wheat lower on hefty global stocks
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. wheat futures dipped to a one-week low on Monday as swelling harvest supplies in the Black Sea export region hung over a subdued market a day ahead of closely watched U.S. government crop forecasts. Soybean futures also declined, while corn edged higher in choppy trade. Chicago Board of Trade December […] Read more

Cargill joint venture to build grain terminal in Ukraine
Kiev | Reuters — U.S. agriculture giant Cargill and Ukraine’s MV Cargo said they would build and operate a grain terminal at Ukraine’s Black Sea port of Yuzhny under a US$100 million joint venture agreement signed Wednesday. The terminal, near Ukraine’s biggest port city of Odessa, will have an annual loading capacity of five million […] Read more

Cargill to stop selling seed, inputs in Black Sea region
Chicago | Reuters –– Cargill will stop selling seeds, fertilizer and crop chemicals to farmers in the Black Sea region, as the global trader continues to cut back operations in the face of sliding commodity prices. The 150-year old company, one of the world’s largest privately held corporations, is in the middle of a restructuring […] Read more

Black Sea in it for the long haul
The Former Soviet Union, once Canada's largest wheat customer, is now its largest competitor
Black Sea wheat exports are projected at an all-time high this year, and there is good reason to have confidence in this forecast. During the 2015/16 marketing year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) estimates that the states of the former Soviet Union excluding Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia (FSU-12) will export a record 45 million […] Read more