Articles by Dominique Patton | Manitoba Co-operator

China hits Australia with barley tariff

Duty to last for five years; China may turn to Canada, other exporters

By Colin Packham, Dominique Patton, GFM Network News May 19, 2020

Beijing/Sydney | Reuters — China added to tensions with Australia on Monday by announcing anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties totalling 80.5 per cent on Australian barley imports from Tuesday (May 19), which is expected to all but halt a billion-dollar trade between them. China’s ministry of commerce said it had confirmed dumping by Australia and significant

Beef cattle, Livestock, Markets

China’s beef imports to drop as hotpot comes off the boil

By Dominique Patton, GFM Network News, Sophie Yu April 13, 2020

Beijing | Reuters — Just over two months ago, the Jinyuan Fucheng Beef Hotpot restaurant in northern Beijing had a long line of customers waiting outside its doors almost every night of the week. Now, the restaurant that can seat 800 barely fills 20 tables a day, with most people still wary of dining out

Crops, Markets

China to resume imports of Canadian canola, sources report

By Dominique Patton, GFM Network News, Hallie Gu March 31, 2020

Beijing | Reuters — China has agreed to allow imports of Canadian canola to resume, two sources briefed on the matter told Reuters on Tuesday, lifting a ban in place since March 2019 that had halted US$2 billion worth of trade. The agreement was reached during a call held by China’s customs administration and Canada’s

Some feed mills and slaughterhouses in China are still shut due to the coronavirus outbreak.

News, Poultry

China’s chicken chain comes unstuck

Chaos of virus measures has derailed a sector that enjoyed rapid growth

By Dominique Patton, Hallie Gu February 28, 2020

Reuters – China’s chicken farmers had been looking forward to a bumper year. But an unprecedented lockdown on people and goods to curb the coronavirus outbreak has disrupted the short but intense poultry life cycle, threatening output of meat just as the world’s most populous country faces a massive pork shortfall. China’s poultry production expanded

Hogs, Markets

No pigging out on pork delicacies for China this Lunar New Year

By Dominique Patton, Sophie Yu January 24, 2020

For Xu, a mother and wife from central China, losing her family’s entire pig herd to African swine fever almost meant not serving the cured pork, known as la rou, and dried sausage central to her Lunar New Year meals. “I wasn’t going to make any this year, but then my son said, ‘Ma, I

Hogs, Markets

China to waive tariffs on some U.S. soybeans, pork

Goodwill gesture is aimed at helping soothe ongoing trade tensions between the two nations

By Dominique Patton, Yawen Chen December 9, 2019

China has confirmed that it will waive import tariffs for some soybeans and pork shipments from the United States, as the two sides try to thrash out a broader agreement to defuse their protracted trade war. The tariff waivers were based on applications by individual companies, the Finance Ministry said in a statement, citing a

A truck unloads soybeans imported from Brazil on the quay of a port in Nantong city, east China’s Jiangsu province.

Markets, Oilseeds

Chinese importers scoop up Brazilian soybeans

Uncertainty over a U.S.-China trade deal has been causing buyers to lock up supplies

By Dominique Patton, Hallie Gu December 9, 2019

Chinese buyers scooped up at least 20 cargoes of Brazilian soybeans last week as uncertainty over a trade deal with the United States sent them rushing to lock in supplies, traders said Nov. 25. Importers also jumped on the new-crop Brazilian beans because of attractive margins, said two traders who declined to be identified. The purchases were for

China, France sign deals worth $15 bln during visit

By Dominique Patton, GFM Network News November 6, 2019

Beijing | Reuters – China and France signed contracts totalling $15 billion during a visit by President Emmanuel Macron, a Chinese government official told a news briefing on Wednesday. Deals were struck in the fields of aeronautics, energy and agriculture, including approval for 20 French companies to export poultry, beef and pork to China. They also agreed to expand

Crops, Markets

Trump’s hailing of Chinese farm purchases seen as ‘meaningless’

By Dominique Patton, GFM Network News October 14, 2019

Beijing | Reuters — China is still a long way from forking out US$50 billion for farm goods from the United States, agriculture industry analysts said on Monday, cautioning that getting there is contingent on removing substantial technical and political hurdles. Outlining the first phase of a deal to end a trade war with China,

Workers sit on a bed next to ducks at a farm in Jiaxiang county, Shandong province, China.

International news, Livestock

China’s duck farmers cash in as ASF disease slashes pork output

Cost-conscious catering firms are switching to supply schools and factories

By Dominique Patton August 14, 2019

Reuters – On a 30-hectare (74-acre) plot of land in China’s Shandong province poultry hub, more than half a million white-feathered ducks are busy eating, chattering and laying eggs to produce cheap meat for thousands of factory canteens. With birds already packed into around 60 open-sided buildings, farm owner Shenghe Group is expanding further, aiming

COVID concerns weigh on chicken farmers, processors

U.S. livestock: Live cattle down as slaughter recovers, beef prices sag

U.S. grains: Wheat falls as dollar bounces

GFM Network News