THURSDAY, JANUARY 17, 2013
VOL. 91 | NO. 3 | $4.25
CROP PRODUCTION SHOW | P. 4-5
SERVING WESTERN CANADIAN FARM FAMILIES SINCE 1923
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TALKIN’ AND WALKIN’ TURKEY
TRADE | COOL
Canada must retaliate for COOL, says pork council BY BARRY WILSON OTTAWA BUREAU
TRANSPORTATION | COSTS
Weather blamed for port delays Heavy rains cause backlog | Boats cannot be loaded during rain, hefty demurrage fees mounting BY SEAN PRATT SASKATOON NEWSROOM
Heavy rain has bogged down vessel loading at Canada’s top grain exporting port, which industry executives say could affect grain flow and prices. Vancouver is always rainy in the winter, but this year has been exceptionally wet. The soggy weather has caused long delays in vessel loading and a backlog of ships. Quinton Stewart, a pulse trader with Viterra, said the excessive rain is having a significant impact on export programs. “When it rains in Vancouver, essentially you cannot load any vessels,” he told producers during a market outlook presentation at the pulse portion of Crop Production Week. “You go from loading roughly 10,000 tonnes per day to zero to 1,000 tonnes.”
BRUCE BURNETT CWB
Stewart said that has put a damper on the pace of sales out of a port that does more grain business than any port in the country. “What (the rain) has resulted in is a large amount of vessels in Vancouver piling up. If you make a trip out there, you’ll see 20 to 30 vessels bobbing up and down in the harbour there,” he said. “We’ve seen things grind to a halt for many of our export programs.”
Vancouver received 197 millimetres of rain in October, up from the previous five-year average of 115 mm. November precipitation was normal but December was again wet with 220 mm of rain compared to the previous five year average of 148 mm for that month. Bruce Burnett, CWB’s director of weather and market analysis, said boats can’t be loaded during rain because the additional moisture puts shipments out of spec. Loading delays vary by company, but he has heard of some vessels that have been waiting for a month in port, resulting in hefty demurrage fees. The harbour is so full that some ships are anchoring in Nanaimo, B.C. Burnett said there are two implications for growers. “If you had a delivery contract for January and suddenly you’re deliver-
ing in February, that’s probably going to be the reason why,” he said. The delays could also have direct financial implications for farmers. “It could impact basis levels a bit out in the countryside,” he said. Nearby cash bids could be softening for crops destined for the West Coast. Crops sold into the U.S. marketplace or those that move through East Coast ports shouldn’t be affected. It will also depend on which grain company farmers deal with. For instance, grain is flowing pretty smoothly at Alliance Grain Terminal Ltd. “There have been delays and some companies are being affected more than others,” Alliance chief executive officer Dave Kushnier said in an email. SEE WEATHER CAUSING DELAYS, P. 2
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SEE RETALIATION, PAGE 3
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Dave Mandel introduces his daughters, four-year-old Mariah, right, and two-year-old Lora, and five-year-old neighbour, Robert Gros, to some new arrivals at the turkey barn he manages at the Brant Colony near Brant, Alta. More than 7,000 poults arrived the previous day and will be fed at the barn for 11 weeks until they reach a weight of 11 kilograms. The turkeys will then be sold and, after two weeks of cleaning, another batch will arrive. | MIKE STURK PHOTO
More than four years into countryof-origin-labelling rules in the United States, the Canadian hog industry says the U.S. protectionist measure has cost the Canadian industry $2 billion and counting. It doesn’t begin to count the hundreds of millions of dollars Canada’s cattle industry says it has lost. Livestock industry leaders are urging Ottawa to prepare a retaliation strategy. During a Jan. 14 news conference to unveil a new report calculating the cost, Canadian Pork Council executives put the federal government on notice that if the U.S. does not comply with a World Trade Organization dispute panel ruling last year that existing COOL rules must be changed by May 23, 2013, Canada must be prepared to retaliate. WTO rules allow tariff retaliation equal to the calculated hurt. However, with the slow pace of WTO compliance procedures and the likelihood of American challenges, any real resolution likely would be months or years away.