Insights and Stories of Phil Franz-Warkentin

Prairie spring wheat bids down as basis erodes

Dec. 21, 2015 at 5:51 pm CST

CNS Canada –– Cash spring wheat bids across Western Canada moved lower during the week ended Friday, as basis levels deteriorated. Average Canada Western Red Spring (CWRS) wheat prices were down by C$1-$5 per tonne during the week, according to price quotes from a cross-section of delivery points across the […]

Ocean freight rate index at historic low, again

Dec. 17, 2015 at 6:25 pm CST

By Phil Franz-Warkentin

Lentil prices just keep rising

Dec. 9, 2015 at 11:53 pm CST

By Phil Franz-Warkentin

Prairie spring wheat bids rise with U.S. futures

Dec. 7, 2015 at 5:57 pm CST

By Phil Franz-Warkentin

Huge Canadian canola crop beats expectations

Dec. 4, 2015 at 1:42 pm CST

By Phil Franz-Warkentin

Canola crush margins hit best levels in months

Dec. 3, 2015 at 4:15 pm CST

CNS Canada –– Canola crush margins have improved considerably over the past few weeks, hitting levels not seen in over six months, as vegetable oil prices rose and the Canadian dollar dropped. Crush margins provide an indication of the profitability of the product values relative to the seed cost when […]

By Phil Franz-Warkentin

ICE weekly outlook: Canola watching currency markets

Dec. 2, 2015 at 6:02 pm CST

CNS Canada — ICE Futures Canada canola contracts moved higher during the week ended Wednesday, but further gains may be hard to come by without more support from the currency markets. “We’ve been held up here by the weaker Canadian dollar,” said Jerry Klassen, manager of the Canadian office for […]

By Phil Franz-Warkentin

Bigger crops anticipated ahead of StatsCan report

Dec. 2, 2015 at 4:19 pm CST

CNS Canada –– Canada’s harvest ended up better than expected in 2015-16, with upward revisions expected for the country’s wheat and canola production when Statistics Canada releases its latest survey data Friday. “It turns out that the crop didn’t suffer as much in Alberta and Saskatchewan,” said Jerry Klassen, manager […]

By Phil Franz-Warkentin

Low ocean freight rates likely to stick around

Nov. 26, 2015 at 7:40 pm CST

CNS Canada –– Ocean freight rates are at some of their lowest levels ever and will likely stay that way for at least the next two years, according to an industry analyst. “We’re near hitting bottom, but just because we hit bottom it doesn’t mean we won’t scrape along it […]

By Phil Franz-Warkentin

CBOT weekly outlook: Corn, soy seek direction

Nov. 25, 2015 at 6:15 pm CST

CNS Canada — Soybean and corn futures at the Chicago Board of Trade moved higher during the week ended Wednesday, but both commodities remain rangebound overall and looking for an outside spark to push values significantly one way or the other. January soybeans moved above their 20-day moving average on […]

By Phil Franz-Warkentin