Green Plains filed the proposed class action with the U.S. District Court of Nebraska, where it also claimed that senior ADM officials knew of the alleged manipulation.

ADM told Reuters in an email statement that the company does not comment on pending litigation.

The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages. It follows reporting by Reuters that ADM’s ethanol selling had led traders to complain to S+P Global Platts, which provides benchmark pricing for the physical ethanol contract at different U.S. delivery points.

According to the complaint, ADM was aggressively selling ethanol on the cash market at the Argo terminal just outside of Chicago — and timing such selling 30 minutes ahead of the close of the trading day.

Green Plains also said ADM flooded the terminal with its barges, to choke off competitors’ supplies and influence the price of spot and futures ethanol markets.

ADM “knew that it would take hard-earned money out of the pockets of other ethanol producers by depressing prices at the Argo Terminal, hurting the producers and imposing downstream pain on corn farmers and co-operatives,” according to the complaint.

A similar lawsuit was filed last September by AOT Holding AG, a Swiss company with an energy trading subsidiary, in an Illinois federal court, seeking up to US$6.33 million in damages.

— P.J. Huffstutter reports on agriculture and agribusiness for Reuters from Chicago.

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Medical marijuana has been legal in Canada since 2001, and recreational use since October 2018, but derivatives — products from cannabis extracts, such as edibles — were only approved for sales this week for both medical and recreational use.

“If you’re looking to launch a product into markets like Denmark or Germany, you are required to be selling it in the medical market in Canada first,” said Deepak Anand, chief executive of Materia Ventures, a Europe-focused cannabis distribution company.

Aurora executive Cam Battley acknowledged this was a consideration in boosting its medical menu.

Canada’s second-biggest marijuana producer added gummies, mints and vapes to its medical menu on Monday. Aurora declined to give the value of medical sales so far but said it had to replenish gummies supplies on its website and saw an uptick in patient registrations.

Aurora, like its rivals, will also sell recreational edibles, which have shipped but must make their way to store shelves through government-controlled wholesalers in most provinces. In contrast, companies can ship medical marijuana products directly to registered patients now.

Large Canadian provinces such as Ontario, Quebec and Alberta will not begin sales until at least January.

Of the 51 companies that Health Canada allows to supply derivatives for recreational use, 47 can also sell them in the medical market but few are doing so now.

A spokeswoman for No. 4 producer Aphria said it will add three vape products specifically for patients in January as part of its medical brand. Canada’s other major cannabis firms, Canopy Growth and Tilray, said they are focusing on existing medical products but that could change in future.

Aurora’s method “is one way to get a little bit of a head start on sales,” said Andrew Kessner, an analyst at William O’Neil and Co. “And selling anything to medical patients is higher margin.”

— Reporting for Reuters by Nichola Saminather in Toronto.

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The decision to hold expansion plans follows a wave of enthusiastic spending by marijuana companies to scale up production, expand in new markets and on research after Canada’s legalization of recreational weed last year.

However, demand has not kept up with expectations as the country struggles with a slow rollout of retail stores among other problems.

Canada’s recent legalization of derivative products, dubbed Cannabis 2.0, has also failed to generate much hype and estimates for growth have become more cautious.

“The last two quarters have been challenging for the Canadian cannabis sector as provinces have reduced purchases to lower inventory levels, retail store openings have fallen short of expectations, and Cannabis 2.0 products are yet to come to market,” CEO Mark Zekulin said.

Smiths Falls, Ont.-based Canopy also took a restructuring charge of $32.7 million in the second quarter to account for returns, return provisions and price cuts for its softgel and oil products.

Suppliers like Canopy enter agreements with retailers and depending on the terms of the contract, buyers can return the product if it does not meet the expected quality or pay less if potency is below agreed ranges.

Sundial Growers ran into problems earlier in August when tons of weed were returned by a buyer because of quality issues. In fact, Tilray CEO said on Tuesday the company regularly inspects crops before buying them.

Canopy also took a $15.9 million charge related to its inventory. It harvested 40,570 kg of weed in the quarter, but sold only 10,913 kg and kg-equivalents of cannabis products.

Adjusted core loss of $155.75 million was wider than analysts’ expectations of $92.9 million, as operating expenses surged 48.2 per cent.

On an adjusted basis, net loss was 96 cents per share, above analysts’ expectation of a loss of 40 cents, according to Refinitiv IBES data.

Net revenue rose more than threefold, to $76.6 million.

— Reporting for Reuters by Shanti S Nair in Bangalore.

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The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Friday that an investigation into 805 confirmed or probable cases of vaping-related respiratory illnesses suggested that products containing THC, the psychoactive element in cannabis, likely played a role.

The heightened health concerns come at a time when Canadian cannabis companies, whose share prices have tumbled over disappointing sales and supply and quality hiccups, are investing millions of dollars into marijuana derivatives, including vape products.

While keeping a wary eye on U.S. developments, they are betting that already strict Canadian regulations will ensure the safety of their products.

The Horizons Marijuana Life Sciences Index ETF has dropped 54 per cent since its Oct. 16 peak, the day before adult recreational use of cannabis flower and THC and CBD oils were legalized. CBD does not contain the compound that gets people high.

The vaping concerns have contributed to recent declines, and will continue to hurt shares, said Bruce Campbell, portfolio manager at Stonecastle Investment Management, which invests in cannabis stocks.

“It’s a case of ‘shoot first, ask questions later’,” he said. “(Investors) probably do some quick back-of-the-envelope math and say, ‘we’re not going to see the sales we expected, so we’re out’.”

Analysts estimate that in some established U.S. markets, vape sales are down as much as 30 per cent, with many marijuana consumers reverting to use of less profitable flower and oil products.

While a shift away from Canada’s illicit cannabis vape market into legal dried flower is positive from a public health standpoint, prolonged uncertainty could hurt legal vape sales.

“These illnesses… occurred using non-regulated products,” said Jason Zandberg, research analyst at investment dealer PI Financial.

Investigators have pointed to vaping products containing THC or vitamin E acetate, a thickening agent often mixed with THC oil in the illicit market, as possible causes of the rash of serious lung problems.

“In theory, it should promote the legal market,” Zandberg said. “But if you don’t have very aggressive education behind these products, a good portion of the population doesn’t see the difference.”

The regulations that take effect on Oct. 17 take into account the emerging health risks associated with cannabis vaping. They prohibit additives including vitamins and colouring agents, Health Canada, which regulates cannabis producers, said in an email.

The health agency added that it is monitoring the situation, and will take additional action if needed.

“The Canadian government should come out as soon as possible one way or other and either double down on vape products or remove them from the derivatives market. You have to give the industry clarity,” said Brett Hundley, a cannabis analyst at Seaport Global.

If the government suddenly removes vape products from the roster of expanded legal cannabis offerings, including edibles and extracts, “that’s going to reverberate back through the supply chain and it’s going to lead to a whole host of near-term issues” for these companies, Hundley said.

Cannabis companies are trusting that adhering to Health Canada’s rules will provide reassurance for investors and consumers.

A spokesman for Canopy Growth Corp., Canada’s biggest cannabis producer, in an email, pointed to the importance of the regulatory frameworks for cannabis vape products that Canada has in place.

Hexo Corp., another Canadian company with a variety of cannabis products, said it is focused on ensuring it is compliant with Health Canada’s regulations. Hexo is double testing its vape products, James McMillan, vice-president of business development, said in a phone interview.

— Reporting for Reuters by Nichola Saminather in Toronto.

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