Canola producers near Thunder Bay are following the latest trade-related dispute between Canada and China with consternation, as they fear the situation will push down prices if it’s allowed to drag on through the fall.
“Markets can change quickly, so it is a concern,” Ryan Jaspers said on Wednesday from his Boundary Drive farm just outside the city.
Canola is a “small part of our operation, but we do sell the crop, so (the dispute) will affect our price,” Jaspers added.
Canola was fetching more than $600 per tonne earlier this summer, but had dropped about $20 below the $600-mark by the beginning of this week.
The oilseed crop is used for cooking oil and other mainstay consumer products like margarine. It has become a major crop grown in the Thunder Bay-area farming belt.
About 1,000 acres of the yellow-flowered plant are cultivated by various producers a short drive from the city, although the majority of Canada’s canola production occurs in Western Canada.
On Tuesday, the Chinese government, which is a major importer of Canadian canola, announced it had started an anti-dumping investigation into this country’s canola seed exports.
The move is widely seen as a retaliatory measure in response to the Canadian government’s earlier decision to slap hefty tariffs on electric vehicles manufactured in China, as well as steel and aluminum.
In a news release, the Winnipeg-based Canola Council of Canada struck a hopeful tone.
“China is an important and valued market for Canadian canola,” the council said.
“We are confident that an investigation into Canada’s canola trade with China will . . . reinforce our support for rules-based trade.”
About one-third of the world’s canola is grown in Canada.
Prior to the latest dispute with China, the canola council said there is “growing demand in China for high quality oil and protein.”
Jaspers, meanwhile, said he hopes the latest manoeuvrings by China “is political more than anything” and that the situation will be resolved quickly as farmers gear up for harvest.
His canola crop, which appears to have escaped the damage from the weekend hail storm, “is looking good.” It should be ready for harvesting in a week or two, he said.
