Reuters — Ontario’s Canopy Growth Corp. is buying Toyko Smoke cannabis owner Hiku Brands Co. Ltd. for $269.2 million, the latest deal in a fast-consolidating sector ahead of legal recreational marijuana sales. Smiths Falls-based Canopy Growth on Tuesday offered 0.046 of its shares, or $1.91 per share, for each Hiku share held, a premium of […] Read more

Canopy Growth to buy Tokyo Smoke owner Hiku Brands

J.M. Smucker to sell U.S. baking brands
Reuters — J.M. Smucker Co. said on Monday it would sell its U.S. baking business, which includes brands such as Pillsbury, Martha White and Hungry Jack, to private equity firm Brynwood Partners for US$375 million. The deal includes a manufacturing facility in Toledo, Ohio, but excludes the baking business in Canada, the company said. “The […] Read more

India extends crop fumigation exemption until year-end
Paris/Mumbai | Reuters — India has extended by six months to the end of 2018 an exemption to its policy for crop cargoes to be fumigated with methyl bromide, a move that should facilitate continued imports of pulses and wheat. The Indian government has issued a letter announcing the exemption would be extended to Dec. […] Read more

U.S. livestock: Early-week cash prices buoy CME live cattle
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle closed higher on Wednesday, lifted by initial prices for market-ready, or cash, cattle and short-covering after recent market losses, traders said. Thinly traded June futures, which will expire on Friday, led advances. Some investors bought that contract and simultaneously sold deferred months in a trading strategy […] Read more

U.S. EPA proposes higher 2019 biofuels mandate
Reuters — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday proposed setting a blending mandate of 19.88 billion gallons for 2019 under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), three per cent higher from this year’s and in line with expectations. The agency also said it is considering a number of measures to bring some transparency to the […] Read more

U.S. livestock: CME hogs bounce back on bargain buying
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange hog futures finished higher on Tuesday after short-covering and bargain buying reversed recent market losses amid trade fears, analysts said. Hog farmers in the U.S. may face another wave of higher tariffs by China, which placed stiff retaliatory duties on U.S. pork imports in early April. CME hogs […] Read more

South Korea lifts suspension on Canadian wheat sales
Seoul | Reuters — South Korea’s food ministry on Tuesday said it had lifted a temporary suspension on sales of Canadian wheat as it had not discovered any unapproved genetically modified strains during tests on imports. South Korea suspended sales of Canadian wheat last week after Canada announced the discovery in mid-2017 of an unapproved […] Read more

Ex-JBS chair Batista charged with corruption
Brasilia | Reuters — Brazilian federal prosecutors on Monday charged JBS SA shareholder Joesley Batista, another senior executive of the meatpacking company and a former federal prosecutor with corruption. The charges against Batista, former executive Francisco Assis and former federal prosecutor Marcello Miller were filed before a federal court in Brasilia, prosecutors said in a […] Read more

Argentina’s grain exports halt in strike against Macri
Buenos Aires | Argentina — A strike called by Argentina’s largest trade union federation in protest over President Mauricio Macri’s market-friendly economic policies brought the country to a standstill on Monday, freezing grains exports and halting banking and public transit. The CGT umbrella labour union demanded wage hikes to keep up with inflation rates running […] Read more

U.S. livestock: Bargain buying pares some CME hogs’ losses
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange hog futures closed moderately higher on Thursday, with support from bargain buying and short-covering that pared some recent market losses amid U.S. trade worries, said analysts. U.S. hog farmers, still reeling from higher retaliatory tariffs on pork imposed by China in early April, are bracing for another round […] Read more