U.S. lapping up Canadian canola oil

Reuters / Canada’s canola crushers are processing the oilseed at a record-brisk pace, as demand for canola oil heats up among U.S. makers of biodiesel and food products like potato chips. The United States has long been a key export market for canola, Canada’s second-biggest crop after spring wheat, but its appetite has spiked in

Foreign traders vying for piece of North American grain-handling sector

The urgency to operate in the United States or Canada has grown because of increasing global demand for crops

For decades, the world’s leading grain traders like Cargill and Bunge enjoyed an unparalleled advantage: their smaller North American competitors lacked the flexibility and diversity of a global operation, and their foreign rivals lacked access to the biggest and most stable exporters in the world. That’s about to change. Large U.S. and Canadian grain companies


Richardson International’s rise to share top grain spot

The pending multibillion-dollar sale of Viterra demonstrates the value of patient capital and private ownership, says Richardson International president Curt Vossen. Last week publicly traded Viterra, Canada’s largest grain company, announced it was selling to the world’s No. 1 diversified commodities trader, Swiss-based Glencore, for $16.1 billion. But in a move believed aimed at getting

The virtues of patient capital

The story of the Prairie grain co-operatives is certainly one for the business books. Starting from nothing in 1923, by 1929 the Pools through the Central Selling Agency had the largest sales of any business in Canada. A year later it collapsed, but the Pools rose again as handling companies, and along with UGG, dominated


CDC Triffid contamination on the decline

Officials from Canada’s flax industry are in Europe this week to brief government and industry officials on the progress Canada is making removing traces of CDC Triffid, a genetically modified (GM) flax, from Canadian flax. “It’s getting less and less frequent and less and less intense,” Flax Council of Canada president Will Hill said in

Who is Glencore International?

Who is Glencore International? A lot of people are asking as the giant, Swiss-based, publicly traded multinational firm prepares to buy Viterra and become a dominant player in Canada’s grain industry. Glencore describes itself as the world’s largest commodity trader — mostly in metals and minerals, but also crops. It employs more than 2,800 people


Canada’s Harper says Viterra bid not “primarily” foreign

reuters / Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said March 25 that the structure of Glencore’s $6.1-billion deal to buy No. 1 Canadian grain handler Viterra means it should not necessarily be seen as a full foreign takeover. Harper’s comments come as the Canadian government and regulators begin reviewing the offer by Swiss-based Glencore, already the

Big payday for Schmidt if Viterra sells

Viterra CEO Mayo Schmidt will earn millions of dollars if Glencore buys Viterra, according to the Globe and Mail. Citing security filings the Globe says Mayo Schmidt will be paid an estimated $37.5 million through “a combination of the value of his stock holdings and of the fully vested value of his outstanding options and



Rising canola futures find point of resistance

Canola futures on the ICE Futures Canada trading platform moved higher during the week ended March 16. Concerns about the record pace of usage and the resulting depletion of old-crop canola stocks stimulated some of the upward price action. Chart-related speculative fund buying interest also contributed to the price advances. Much of that buying was