Insights and Stories of Phil Franz-Warkentin

May. 7, 2021 at 4:07 am CDT

MarketsFarm — Ocean freight rates have climbed steadily higher over the past year, recovering from the lows hit at the start of the pandemic in early 2020 to see their highest levels in over a decade. The Baltic Dry Index (BDI), a major indicator of shipping rates, hit a high […]

By Phil Franz-Warkentin

May. 5, 2021 at 10:00 pm CDT

MarketsFarm — The ICE Futures canola market continued its months-long upward trajectory during the week ended Wednesday, hitting fresh contract highs in many months as tight old-crop supplies and weather uncertainty for the new crop kept speculators on the buy side. While selling was starting to come forward to temper […]

By Phil Franz-Warkentin

Apr. 29, 2021 at 7:00 pm CDT

MarketsFarm — Canada has already exported more barley through the first two-thirds of the 2020-21 marketing year than in any full crop year in over a decade. That solid export pace is keeping domestic prices well supported, with an increase in seeded area in 2021-22 expected. Export data from the […]

By Phil Franz-Warkentin

Apr. 23, 2021 at 7:08 pm CDT

MarketsFarm — Canadian farmers are seen as likely to plant more canola and barley and less wheat this spring, as market participants await the first survey-based estimates from Statistics Canada on Tuesday to confirm the extent of that shift. “Canola will gain acres and wheat will lose acres,” said MarketsFarm […]

By Phil Franz-Warkentin

Apr. 21, 2021 at 8:48 pm CDT

MarketsFarm — ICE Futures canola contracts climbed to fresh highs during the week ended Wednesday, with no end to the uptrend in sight from a fundamental standpoint. “We are in the middle of a demand-pull market… and the market has not yet done what it needs to do to accomplish […]

By Phil Franz-Warkentin