E-Malt.com News article: Canada: CWB launches itself into the new grain-marketing era

CWB has launched itself into the new grain-marketing era with a new corporate visual identity, a new grain-handling partner, and a strong foundation for its competitive business model, which began with the new crop year on August, 1.

"We begin the new era in a position of strength and a climate of optimism," president and CEO Ian White during a news conference held on July, 31 in the lobby of CWB head office in downtown Winnipeg. "We have a brand new look, a solid business model and the support of thousands of farmers who have told us they intend to market grain with CWB. That makes the future bright."

He also announced that an important grain-handling agreement has been reached with Louis Dreyfus Canada Ltd. to handle grain from farmers who want to market their grain through CWB pools. "With this new agreement, CWB remains well on track to serve farmers into the future as their expert grain-marketing partner," said White. "Our network of partner delivery points will continue to grow, ensuring farmers can sign CWB contracts with confidence."

Louis Dreyfus, one of the world's largest grain companies, has 10 modern, high-throughput terminals across Western Canada. The announcement means there are now more than 130 confirmed locations across Western Canada where farmers can deliver grain to CWB.

Farmers have provided strong indications that they intend to commit a large volume of grain to CWB, White said. Grain prices are strong, which has created excellent pricing opportunities for producers and for CWB pools, which are capturing value from the current market rally.

"There are many reasons for confidence as we forge ahead anew," he said. "We will add value for farmers. We have a clean balance sheet thanks to the support of the Government of Canada. We have streamlined our operations. We have negotiated business arrangements that will help us succeed. The path we've taken goes in one direction - forward."

CWB crop and grain-market experts also provided outlooks on the prospects for this year's Prairie harvest. Production in 2011 will be significantly larger than the past three years. The CWB Market Research team projects all-wheat production in Western Canada of 24.2 million tonnes (MT), compared to 22.7 MT last year and 21.1 MT in 2010. Durum is expected to be 4.5 MT, up from last year's 4.2 MT, while barley is forecast at 8 MT, up from 7.3 in 2011.

For the 2011-12 crop year that ended July, 31, CWB expects to return an estimated C$6.3 billion to western Canadian farmers from the sale of last year's wheat and barley crop. CWB exported about 18.1 MT, including 13 MT of wheat, 3.6 MT of durum, and 1.1 MT of barley. Within Canada, CWB sold 2.15 MT of wheat, 225 000 T of durum, and 1 MT of malting barley over the past crop year, which runs from August 1 to July 31.


01 August, 2012