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Brace for more commodity volatility due to China

China’s real estate bubble is deflating as the economy slows

When someone asks where commodity prices are headed, they’re really asking: what’s the outlook for China? Last year, China consumed more coal than the rest of the world combined and imported 70 per cent of the world’s seaborne iron ore. In 2012, China accounted for half of the global growth in oil demand. It’s a

Fencing that once marked pasture land now butts up against the shore of East Shoal Lake.  Photos: Shannon VanRaes

Milking the benefits of canola meal

The Chinese have 7.2 million reasons to switch their dairy cows to canola meal from other protein rations. That’s how many more litres of milk their 12 million cows would produce every day based on a year-long joint Sino-Canadian study conducted by Chinese academics, in co-operation with China’s five largest dairy companies. “Canola meal has


China maintains key cereal reserves

The Chinese government will start stockpiling soy and corn from local farmers at higher prices than a year ago, an industry source said Nov. 13, a move set to stabilize domestic prices and support soy imports. China, the world’s top soy buyer, will pay 4,600 yuan ($740) per tonne to soy farmers in four major

Feds say no link in Viterra, Nexen approvals

Reuters – The Chinese government is treating its role in potential takeovers of two Canadian companies separately, and is not linking them in order to pressure Ottawa to approve a deal between China’s CNOOC Ltd. and Canadian oil producer Nexen Inc., Canada’s agriculture minister said Nov. 13. Approval from China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) under



Expect canola industry to seek even more acres

ICE Futures Canada canola contracts remained pointed decidedly higher during the week ended Feb. 17, showing no real signs of slowing down. Similar gains in the Chicago soy complex did provide some underlying support to the Canadian futures, but canola was also benefiting from its own bullish fundamental and technical factors. Depending on the chart


China To Become World’s Top Farm Products Importer

BEIJING / REUTERS China will become the world s largest importer of agriculture products in five to 10 years as the country faces pressure from shrinking farmland and other constraints on production, a top government think-tank researcher was cited by local media as saying. Cheng Guoqiang, a researcher with the Development Research Center of the

More Transparency Needed From China

geneva/reuters China must make its farm sector more transparent and fairer to foreign competition, the United States told the World Trade Organization s agriculture committee Sept. 29, as it reviewed China s first decade in the world trade body. Despite years of U.S. complaints, China still charged 13 per cent value-added tax on imported wheat,


In Brief… – for Sep. 22, 2011

Sask. harvest ahead of normal:Saskatchewan farmers had harvested 60 per cent of the overall 2011 crop as of Sept. 12, moving ahead of the five-year average of 47 per cent after a week of favourable weather, the provincial government said last Thursday in a weekly report. Harvest progress was the most advanced for this time

Commodity Price Pressure Made In China

Canola futures on the ICE Futures Canada trading platform suffered some price weakness during the week ended Nov. 19, but were well off the lows established. The continued liquidation of long positions by nervous speculative fund account holders generated the declines. That selling was again inspired by a knee-jerk reaction to news that the Chinese