(Photo courtesy Port of Los Angeles)

‘Containergeddon’: Supply crisis drives Walmart, rivals to hire own ships

Bulk grain ships pressed into container service

Los Angeles | Reuters — The Flying Buttress once glided across the oceans carrying vital commodities such as grain to all corners of the world. Now it bears a different treasure: Paw Patrol Movie Towers, Batmobile Transformers and Baby Alive Lulu Achoo dolls. The dry bulk cargo ship has been drafted into the service of

The USDA building in Washington, D.C. (Art Wager/iStock/Getty Images)

CBOT weekly outlook: U.S. corn, soybean carryovers could increase

Declines expected for wheat stocks

MarketsFarm — Ahead of the next supply and demand report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), expectations are for corn and soybean ending stocks to increase, according to Steve Georgy, president of Allendale Inc., in McHenry, Ill. “The wheat market could see carryout numbers decline slightly on this report,” he added. USDA is scheduled


Russia says it agrees on terms for supply of its beef to China

Russia and China have agreed on supply terms for Russian beef which could help simplify trade between the two countries, the Russian agriculture safety watchdog said Sept. 21. Brazil, the world’s largest beef exporter, suspended beef exports to its No. 1 customer China after confirming two cases of “atypical” mad cow disease in two separate

Higher pork production this year versus last year has eased China’s imports of its staple protein.

Comment: China lightens interest in pork imports but loads up on beef

Falling pork prices in China have quelled demand for imports

Reuters – U.S. pork trade with China made a big breakthrough two years ago as the Chinese hog herd was thinned by disease and political relations began to mend, though U.S. exports to the top pork consumer have not performed as well this year relative to those from other suppliers. China’s pork production is expected


CBOT November 2021 soybeans (candlesticks) with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages (yellow, green and black lines). (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Soybean futures extend losing streak

CBOT wheat firm, corn weak

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. soybean futures fell for the third session in a row on Monday, sinking to their lowest in 9-1/2 months on continued pressure from a government report that showed domestic supplies were bigger than expected. Wheat firmed to its highest since mid-August on technical buying. Corn futures ended slightly lower after

CME December 2021 live cattle (candlesticks) with Bollinger bands (20,2). (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: CME cattle futures touch one-week highs

Chicago lean hogs retreat

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures hit one-week highs on Monday on technical buying and short covering, while lean hog futures tumbled, traders said. The gains in cattle came after the market sank to a four-month low on Friday. “This market is technically very oversold,” said Brian Hoops, president of broker


File photo of a canola crop south of Ethelton, Sask. in 2019. (Dave Bedard photo)

Canada’s drought forces canola importers to turn elsewhere

'Importers...are going to be left out in the cold'

Winnipeg | Reuters — Canada’s smallest canola harvest in 13 years, resulting from severe drought, is forcing importers like Japan and Mexico to pay more or scour other countries for the yellow-flowering oilseed. With the scant available Canadian canola fetching high prices, customers of the world’s biggest canola exporter are leaning more heavily on smaller-producing

File photo of hogs on a farm in the Dominican Republic. (RD-SunPhotography/iStock/Getty Images)

U.S. puts up funds to prevent African swine fever

Haiti, Dominican Republic now 'countries of concern' on CFIA list

Chicago | Reuters — The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Wednesday pledged up to US$500 million to prevent the spread of the fatal pig virus African swine fever, after Haiti and the Dominican Republic recently confirmed outbreaks. A U.S. outbreak would likely slash U.S. pork exports and pig prices, hurting farmers and meat companies such



CBOT December 2021 corn (candlesticks) with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages (yellow, orange and dark green lines). (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Corn futures up on firm cash markets

Soybeans post modest gains

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. corn futures rose about two per cent on Monday, rallying from early declines on support from tight domestic cash markets and spillover strength from crude oil futures, analysts said. Soybean futures climbed as China booked several U.S. cargos of the oilseed but wheat futures ended narrowly mixed. Chicago Board of