Signage on Viterra’s office building in Regina. (Dave Bedard photo)

Bunge, Viterra confirm marriage plans

Firms to merge under Bunge banner

The grain handler built out from the foundations of the former Prairie pools is set to be absorbed into one of the world’s biggest grain trading firms in a cash-and-stock deal. After the news leaked out last month, Rotterdam-based Viterra confirmed Tuesday morning it’s “concluded an agreement” to merge into Bunge — the St. Louis-based

J.P. Morgan’s estimate puts the market cap of a combined Bunge and Viterra at around US$25 billion.

Bunge, Viterra merger would create global ag trading giant

Companies have some overlap in Canadian crushing

Reuters — A merger of U.S. grains merchant Bunge Ltd. with rival Viterra would grow the combined entity’s businesses in the U.S., Brazil and Australia and may raise competition concerns in parts of Canada and Argentina, where key oilseed processing assets overlap, analysts said. Sources last week said Bunge and Viterra were in talks for


Over the last 20 years, more grain has been shipped in containers but the Canadian industry has been slower than other countries to adopt this method.

Shipping containers could open new doors to international grain trade

Web portal poised to facilitate direct sales to overseas markets

The Canadian grain shipping industry needs a paradigm shift, according to one grain transportation expert. Adil Cubukgil launched the Prairie Grain Portal (prairiegrainportal.com) in September 2021 to facilitate direct sales to overseas markets and add weight to the notion that Canada’s grain sector would benefit by increasing the portion of containerized grain shipments leaving its

“It seems to be a series of wish lists by lobby groups in the guise of a national plan.” – Barry Prentice.

Supply chain report draws praise and criticism

Pandemic revealed supply chain fragility, but remedies won’t be easy

A report released by the federal task force charged with fixing the recent supply chain crisis is getting mixed reviews from industry experts. The final report of the National Supply Chain Task Force (see full report at bottom) draws upon recommendations and consultations with industry stakeholders in a strategy to avert a crisis like the

grain train

Railways in the spotlight as grain shipping season begins

A big crop is bound for export and there are doubts the railways can pull it off

Glacier FarmMedia – Another chapter in the great Canadian rail transport soap opera may be unfolding. The tempestuous couple — railroads and grain farmers — is on the cusp of another argument over harvest shipping. And there’s no alternative for producers. They’re locked into the relationship. Will CN Rail and CP Rail, which struggled to


File photo of vessels on the Mississippi River south of New Orleans on Nov. 5, 2017. (Dave Bedard photo)

Shallow Mississippi River expected to persist as dry winter hits U.S. South

River levels at historic lows this fall

Reuters — Low water levels on the Mississippi River are likely to persist this winter as drier-than-normal weather is expected across the southern U.S. and Gulf Coast, U.S. government forecasters said on Thursday. Drought, which currently spans 59 per cent of the country, is expected to continue or worsen in the middle and lower Mississippi

VIDEO: Editor’s Take: Off the rails

VIDEO: Editor’s Take: Off the rails

We live in an era of the primacy of markets. In particular, regulation of markets has been deemed as undesirable, a long-term trend that began with neo-conservatism in the late 1970s and early 1980s. But Canadians are increasingly being hit in the face with examples where greater regulation is becoming a necessary evil. From price-fixing

(File photo by Dave Bedard)

CP to lock out engineers, conductors starting Sunday

'Cannot prolong the uncertainty,' CEO says

Canadian Pacific Railway has served its unionized engineers, conductors and train and yard service staff with notice of a lockout to start just after midnight ET on Sunday, unless the company and union agree on a new labour deal by then. Calgary-based CP and the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC), which represents about 3,000 CP



After several banner years, suddenly the railways can’t spot cars at elevators in time.

Railways struggle to move smallest western crop in years

Car cycle times are the lowest in almost 40 years and demurrage charges are through the roof

[UPDATED: Feb. 25, 2022] After five consecutive years of record western Canadian grain movement, grain shipping has slowed to a trickle and poor railway service, not the 2021 drought, is getting most of the blame.  The railways recovered relatively quickly from floods in British Columbia late last fall and grain shippers were expecting an upswing