Canada: Barley price falls following court's wheat board ruling

Barley prices dropped on the Winnipeg Commodity Exchange yesterday in the wake of a court ruling that upholds for the time being the Canadian Wheat Board's barley monopoly, Toronto Star Newspapers published August 2.

Cash prices for western barley dropped yesterday by about 70 cents a bushel, while futures prices were down $7.50 a tonne.

The price movement comes one day after a Federal Court judge ruled the Conservative government overstepped its authority with its plan to strip the wheat board of its monopoly on barley sales.

Don Bousquet, a commodity analyst and commentator, says prices were higher because sellers were counting on selling more than a half-million tonnes of barley on the world market without having to go through the Canadian Wheat Board.

Bousquet says that barley will now come from other countries, so the price of Canadian barley is dropping.

Ottawa has not decided whether it will appeal the ruling.

08 August, 2007