The federal government has announced an “agreement in principle” which will see a new partnership fix up northern Manitoba’s washed-out Hudson Bay Railway and take over the mothballed Port of Churchill. Details of the agreement were slim at best in the government’s announcement Wednesday, except to say the buying group slated to take over the […] Read more

Deal in principle announced for Churchill railway, port

Strikes called off as unions, CP reach tentative deals
Labour peace arrives Thursday morning at Canadian Pacific Railway, as the company and the unions for its conductors, engineers and signal maintainers have reached tentative deals. The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Council No. 11, which represents about 360 CP signal maintenance staff, announced a tentative three-year deal with Calgary-based CP Tuesday evening. The […] Read more

U.S. grains: Wheat retreats on profit-taking, weather
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. wheat futures fell about two per cent on Wednesday on a mix of profit-taking following 10-month highs established a day earlier and improving weather forecasts for U.S. and Canadian spring wheat regions, analysts said. Corn futures hit a one-month low and soybeans followed the weak trend. As of 12:51 p.m. […] Read more

U.S. grains: Corn, soy sag on renewed U.S.-China trade tension
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. corn futures fell about 1.5 per cent on Tuesday, with the front contract at times dropping below US$4 a bushel as U.S. trade tensions with China re-emerged, analysts said. Wheat turned lower after climbing to multi-month highs, and soybeans also slipped. Chicago Board of Trade July corn settled down six […] Read more

Bayer wins U.S. nod for Monsanto deal to create ag giant
Frankfurt/Washington | Reuters — Bayer won U.S. approval for its planned takeover of Monsanto after agreeing to sell about US$9 billion in assets, clearing a major hurdle for the US$62.5 billion deal that will create by far the largest seeds and pesticides maker. Makan Delrahim, who heads the U.S. Justice Department’s (DoJ) antitrust division, said […] Read more

Freeland to visit Washington this week for NAFTA talks
Ottawa | Reuters — Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland will visit Washington this week in another bid to help unblock talks on the North American Free Trade Agreement, a spokesman said on Monday. Freeland will be in Washington on Tuesday and Wednesday, said spokesman Adam Austen. The U.S., Mexico and Canada are struggling to […] Read more

CP employees to walk the line Tuesday night
Barring any last-minute deals, conductors, engineers and signal maintainers at Canadian Pacific Railway plan to be on strike as of 9 p.m. CT Tuesday. The Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC), which represents about 3,000 CP engineers, and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), which represents about 360 CP signal maintenance staff, both announced Saturday […] Read more

Bayer cuts Monsanto synergy target on divestments
Bonn | Reuters — Bayer said positive synergy effects from the planned takeover of U.S. seeds and chemical firm Monsanto would be about US$300 million below its previous target because it will sell more businesses than initially expected to get antitrust approval. Bayer CEO Werner Baumann again threw his weight behind the deal, despite higher […] Read more

U.S. grains: Wheat rallies on dry weather fears
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. wheat futures jumped more than two per cent on Friday and ended the week up nearly five per cent as worries about dry weather in key global production regions fueled short-covering and speculative buying. Soybeans advanced for the fifth time in six sessions on renewed Chinese buying of U.S. export […] Read more

CP employees reject company’s ‘final’ offers
Conductors, engineers and signal maintainers at Canadian Pacific Railway are again within striking distance of striking. The Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC), which represents about 3,000 CP engineers, and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), which represents about 360 CP signal maintenance staff, confirmed Friday their members have voted to reject what CP described […] Read more