The turnaround in canola futures on the Intercontinental Exchange indicates canola traders are ignoring issues with China and the strike among Port of Vancouver grain workers.
Some 45,000 union workers could walk off the job at seaports on the U.S. East and Gulf Coasts on Oct 1, cutting off vital trade arteries just weeks ahead of the nation's presidential election.
While producers could feel the pinch of a strike at the Port of Vancouver's grain terminals within a week, the markets won't feel much of a hit unless the strike continues for three or four weeks, analysts said.
Grain terminal workers at the Port of Vancouver are on strike this morning as shown by video posted by local media on X. Video from CityNews Vancouver shows workers picketing outside of Viterra's Cascadia terminal.
On Sept. 21, Grain Workers Union Local 333 issued a 72-hour strike notice to terminal operators represented by the Vancouver Terminal Elevators Association (VTEA). According to a letter posted to the union's Facebook page, workers will walk off the job on Tuesday morning.
The Canada Industrial Relations Board ordered on Saturday a halt to work stoppages at the country's largest railways, signaling an end to an unprecedented service disruption at both main freight rail carriers that threatened to hammer Canada's export-driven economy.
Workers at the Canadian National (CN) railway will be headed back to work today, their union said, but workers at Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) will remain off the job "pending an order from the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB)."
As Canada braced for a freight rail stoppage that could hit industries ranging from autos to agriculture, the trucking sector said it faced higher demand it could not meet.
Nearly three dozen North American agriculture groups, in a joint letter to the U.S. and Canadian governments today, urged action to avoid a rail stoppage.