Winnipeg | Reuters — Canadian grain shipments by rail have picked up since earlier this month when Ottawa ordered Canadian National Railway and Canadian Pacific Railway (CN, CP) to improve service, CN and a grain-handling group said Tuesday. Transportation bottlenecks have left crops landlocked after a record-smashing harvest and frigid winter in Canada, the world’s […] Read more
Railways report progress on easing grain logjam
Railways step up service as Ottawa eyes tackling grain backlog
Winnipeg | Reuters — Canada’s two big railways are stepping up service to reduce a backlog of grain shipments that have delayed exports and pushed oat prices to record highs, but the Canadian government said it may still step in with new regulations. Record crops of wheat and canola, along with frigid weather, overwhelmed Canadian […] Read more
Cost of Agrium potash expansion jumps on cold, wind
Reuters — Canadian fertilizer producer Agrium said Friday the cost of expanding its west-central Saskatchewan potash mine had jumped 25 per cent from the original estimate, after cold and windy weather hampered construction. The Calgary-based company plans to complete its project at Vanscoy, about 20 km southwest of Saskatoon, by the end of 2014, boosting […] Read more
Mosaic stock rises on outlook even as profit plunges
Reuters — Mosaic Co. offered an encouraging outlook and announced a big share buyback on Tuesday, buoying the U.S. fertilizer company’s stock even as it reported a 79 per cent plunge in quarterly profit, a sharper decline than expected. Last summer’s breakup of the Belarusian Potash Co. — one of the world’s two dominant potash […] Read more
Saputo eyeing further buys
Reuters — Canada’s largest dairy producer Saputo Inc., which recently won control of Australian dairy Warrnambool Cheese and Butter Factory Co., is hungry for further acquisitions in that country, as well as in New Zealand, Brazil and the U.S., CEO Lino Saputo Jr. said on Thursday. Saputo gave no indication that further big purchases are […] Read more
PotashCorp sees weaker-than-expected year ahead
Reuters — PotashCorp, the world’s biggest fertilizer company, on Thursday reported its smallest quarterly profit in four years and produced 2014 forecasts that were well below Wall Street expectations. The Saskatoon-based company’s disappointing outlook shows the global potash market has far to go to recover from a slide in prices, due to years of soft […] Read more
U.S. grains: Wheat rises on import demand, deep-freeze threat
Winnipeg | Reuters — Wheat futures rose on Thursday to an eight-day high as cold weather across the U.S. grain belt raised fears of crop damage and major importers returned to the market following a recent drop in prices to a 3-1/2-year low. Corn followed wheat higher, but soybeans finished slightly weaker. “Wheat’s caught a […] Read more
Canada, Korea in ‘tremendous’ free trade talks: Ritz
Canada and South Korea are having “tremendous discussions” toward a free-trade agreement, said Canada’s Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz — a deal that could increase trade in meat and autos. Talks began in 2005, but were later hung up over disputes such as a delay in South Korea scrapping its ban on Canadian beef. South Korea […] Read more
U.S. grains: Soybeans bounce on technical buying, export sales
U.S. grains and soybeans rose on Friday, clawing back some of their earlier losses during the holiday-shortened week. Soybeans gained the most, climbing one per cent on technical buying ahead of the expiry of options and bargain buying, traders said. The oilseed also got a boost from the U.S. Department of Agriculture reporting better-than-expected weekly […] Read more
CPP buying company’s farmland portfolio in Saskatchewan
The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) said Thursday it had agreed to acquire the assets of Assiniboia Farmland, a fund that owns and manages a large portfolio of farmland in Saskatchewan, for about $128 million. CPPIB, one of Canada’s top pension fund managers with more than $192.8 billion in assets under management, said Regina-based […] Read more
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