CNS Canada — ICE Futures Canada canola contracts fell to their lowest levels in more than three months during the week ended Wednesday, but could still have more room to the downside given the general sense of global trade uncertainty. “Every commodity trader in North America or globally is scared to death right now,” said […] Read more

ICE weekly outlook: Canola facing uncertainty

Chickens culled as Brazil truckers disrupt commodity exports
Sao Paulo | Reuters — Striking truckers in Brazil have disrupted supply and exports of farm produce from one of the world’s agricultural commodity powerhouses. Brazil is the top global exporter of soybeans, sugar, coffee and chickens. The strike over high fuel prices has paralyzed Latin America’s largest economy, emptied Brazilian roadways and left major […] Read more

U.S. grains: Soybeans surge on U.S.-China trade truce
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. soybean futures jumped more than two per cent on Monday after Washington and Beijing agreed to drop tariff threats, easing fears that demand for U.S. shipments to top importer China could slow. Corn prices were little changed, while wheat dropped on crop-boosting rains in the U.S. Plains wheat belt and […] Read more

China agrees to import more ag commodities, fuels from U.S.
Washington | Reuters — China has agreed to significantly increase its purchases of U.S. goods and services, the two countries said Saturday, but made no mention of a US$200 billion target the White House had touted earlier. Beijing and Washington agreed they would keep talking about measures under which China would import more energy and […] Read more

Manitoba soybean acreage predictions mixed
CNS Canada — While some in the soybean sector think Statistics Canada is right about its predictions for a decline in Manitoba acres, others think plantings should still end up close to the record in 2017. Statistics Canada is predicting soybean acres in Manitoba to drop to 1.96 million from 2.29 million, according to its […] Read more

U.S. grains: Soybeans stumble as U.S.-China trade talks disappoint
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. soybean futures fell on Friday on disappointment that trade talks did not move Washington and Beijing closer to a deal to resolve the mounting dispute that has crimped U.S. crop sales to China. Prices retreated after a one per cent rise on Thursday that was fueled by “unfounded rumours” the […] Read more

U.S.-China trade fears halt soybean imports
Singapore/Beijing | Reuters — China’s purchases of U.S. soybeans have come to a grinding halt, trade and industry sources say, as fears of further action by Beijing to curb imports of U.S. crops following last week’s anti-dumping move on sorghum rattles the agriculture industry. Buyers from China, which takes 60 per cent of soybeans traded […] Read more

U.S. lawmakers skeptical of promises to shield farmers from trade dispute
Overland Park, Kan. | Reuters — U.S. lawmakers and the farm industry were skeptical of the Trump administration’s promise to shield farmers from the rapidly escalating trade dispute between the U.S. and China, concerned about the lack of details in protecting the agricultural export sector now embroiled in the back-and-forth. Major farming states supported U.S. […] Read more

China retaliates for U.S. tariffs, slaps duties on soybeans
Beijing/Washington | Reuters — China quickly hit back on Wednesday at Trump administration plans to slap tariffs on US$50 billion in Chinese goods, retaliating with a list of similar duties on key U.S. imports including soybeans, planes, cars, whiskey and chemicals. The speed with which the trade struggle between Washington and Beijing is ratcheting up […] Read more

Coffee may profit more than soy in Brazil’s new farming frontier
Luis Eduardo Magalhaes, Brazil | Reuters –– Farmers tending vast, flat soy and cotton fields that spread as far as the eye can see in northeastern Brazil are finding that coffee crops might provide higher profits in the country’s agricultural frontier. More coffee farms are being developed in the western part of Bahia state, which […] Read more