Bioindustrial Innovation Canada (BIC) has invested in California bio-based products company Origin Materials. Origin Materials will be building its first commercial-scale demonstration facility in Sarnia, Ont. by late next year. It will be using bio-based feedstocks such as crops and biomass to make new polymers, surfactants and carbon blacks, which are used as fillers and […] Read more

Bioprocessor coming to Sarnia

CBOT weekly outlook: Weather watching trade in summertime
CNS Canada –– Corn and soybean futures at the Chicago Board of Trade are hanging in a seasonal weather-based market, with traders watching crop conditions week-to-week. Corn futures have downside potential, gathering influence from wheat futures and crop ratings in the near term. “I’m looking for an improvement in crop ratings next week, which might […] Read more

U.S. grains: MGEX spring wheat eases on rains
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. grain and soy futures were mostly lower on Wednesday, with MGEX spring wheat declining from an earlier 2-1/2-year high on pressure from technical selling and forecasts for crop-friendly rainfall, traders and analysts said. Chicago Board of Trade corn futures declined the most as scattered rains fell in the Midwestern crop […] Read more

U.S. grains: MGEX wheat rallies as conditions worsen in Plains
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. spring wheat futures jumped 4.6 per cent to their highest in 2-1/2 years on Tuesday, pulling soft red winter wheat and hard red winter contracts higher on growing worries about crop health in the dry U.S. Plains, traders said. The rally stemmed from a U.S. Agriculture Department report released on […] Read more

U.S. grains: Improving weather views pressure corn, soy, wheat
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. corn futures dropped 2.8 per cent on Monday on forecasts for rain that is expected to bolster the health of a crop stressed by adverse weather throughout planting and early development, traders said. The improving weather view also weighed on wheat and soybean futures as traders used it as an […] Read more

Coop federee to exit machinery parts distribution
Citing “a period of pronounced decline” in its farm machinery business, Quebec farm co-operative La Coop federee plans to get out of parts distribution by next fall. The co-operative announced May 30 it plans to “gradually” close its Dispro farm equipment and parts distribution centre at Trois-Rivieres over a 12- to 15-month period from September […] Read more

Washouts shut Hudson Bay Railway for shipping season
Flooding and rail bed washouts on sections of northern Manitoba’s Hudson Bay Railway have led the line’s owner to suspend its operations indefinitely. The closure of the portion of the line running from Amery, Man., about 50 km northeast of Gillam, north to Hudson Bay at Churchill, all but ensures no Prairie grain, other than […] Read more

U.S. grains: Corn, soybeans end higher ahead of hot spell
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. corn and soybean futures firmed on Friday as forecasts for scorching temperatures in the Midwest crop belt through early next week prompted funds to cover short positions, analysts said. Chicago Board of Trade winter wheat futures fell on profit-taking but still posted a weekly advance of 3.8 per cent, triggered […] Read more

Spring wheat futures climb to two-year highs
CNS Canada — Spring wheat futures in Minneapolis climbed to their highest levels in nearly two years during the week ended Friday, as weather concerns in major U.S. wheat-growing states provided support. The nearby July contract on Thursday hit a session high of US$6.1775 per bushel, the strongest level for the front-month spring wheat contract […] Read more

U.S. forecaster sees El Nino unlikely through fall
Reuters — A U.S. government weather forecaster on Thursday said there are no active El Nino or La Nina patterns and that neutral conditions are likely in the Northern Hemisphere during fall 2017. However, chances for El Nino remain elevated, between 35 and 50 per cent, relative to the long-term average into the fall, the […] Read more