“This direct import of durum wheat has enriched the structure of China’s imported wheat varieties, facilitated the extension of COFCO’s products upstream and further improved COFCO’s… full industry chain model,” it said in a statement.

COFCO said the durum wheat was purchased by COFCO International and will be transferred to COFCO Haijia (Xiamen) Flour Co. Ltd. for processing.

China has already imported almost two million metric tonnes of durum wheat from Canada this year, according to Chinese customs data.

That does not match Canadian government data, however, which shows China bought no Canadian durum during the past year through September, the most recent month for which data is available.

Chinese purchases of other types of Canadian wheat were larger year-on-year during the 2022-23 crop marketing year, which ended July 31, the Canadian data showed.

The discrepancy is likely due to China’s customs agency classifying wheat differently, said Chuck Penner, a Canadian analyst at LeftField Commodity Research.

READ MORE: High pasta prices set to boil over as Canada’s wheat withers

He said Canada does not have enough durum to sell such a large volume during the year to Chinese buyers and still supply regular importers in the U.S., north Africa and Europe.

Canada accounts for around half of the global trade of durum, a type of hard wheat used to make pasta.

China has imported record volumes of wheat this year, with rain damage to its crop and worries over dry weather in exporting nations fuelling Beijing’s appetite to buy while prices are low.

The world’s largest wheat consumer has imported 10.83 million tonnes of wheat in the first 10 months of this year, a 37.7 per cent surge from a year ago, customs data showed.

— Reporting for Reuters by Mei Mei Chu; additional reporting by Rod Nickel in Winnipeg.

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I first made pasta at a tiny restaurant where I worked during the 1980s in Calgary. I experimented with adding all kinds of vegetable purées and herbs to the dough, although Calgary diners back then were just not ready for garishly pink beet-stained pasta, but they liked the saffron version, yellow that bled across the dough like paint on a canvas.

A food processor is best for combining the dough. For rolling and cutting, use a machine attachment for your countertop mixer, a hand-crank pasta machine like my Italian beauty (if you are willing to jury-rig it a bit to keep it from wiggling about as you crank the handle), or a purist’s knife and rolling pin (but only if you use super-finely ground doppio, or “double zero” Italian-style flour, in a grade milled specifically for pasta, not bread or cake). I use all-purpose flour when I make pasta and roll it in my stainless steel Imperia, which is easily ordered online.

Judging by the state of the nation’s grocery shelves, we all have flour in our houses, so between bouts of feeding your sourdough starter and shaping loaves, cranking out some noodles is a good use of time. Like bread making, the end result is something that offers comfort as well as sustenance. There’s nothing like a bowl of fresh pasta dressed in butter and Parmesan cheese, or in a Bolognese that spent hours in the oven.

But if you hesitate because of the time outlay, consider: if you amortize the time spent making (an hour-plus, but half that spent letting the dough rest) with the time spent cooking (one to two minutes, depending on thickness), fresh pasta begins to look like an ideal supper for folks confined to home with an appetite and time to put in. So let’s get to it. First we eat, then tell me what’s new with you in your socially distant home.

Handmade Pasta

Weighing pasta’s few ingredients is the best choice for the most consistent texture: flour can be compressed or aerated, and eggs vary in size. The more you make pasta, the sooner you can make it intuitively, by feel. Until then, weigh your ingredients, including the liquid. Makes about 500 g, enough for two to four servings.

• 300 g all-purpose flour
• Salt to taste
• 3 large eggs
• 2 large egg yolks
• Water as needed to bring the egg volume to 185 g

Aerate the flour and salt in the food processor, then add the liquid. Mix into a rough ball. If it is pebbly or sandy, add water, a spoonful at a time. If it sticks to the bowl, add a little more flour. Turn out on the counter and knead in small motions; pinch a bit of the dough at a time, then turn the dough a few degrees and repeat. Knead for eight to 10 minutes, until smooth and supple. Wrap well and let rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Dust the pasta with flour or ground semolina. Divide into six pieces, wrapping them so they don’t dry out. Flatten one piece with the heel of your hand, then feed it into the pasta maker’s aperture, set at its widest opening. Lay the dough on the counter and fold the two ends to meet in the middle. Turn it 90 degrees. Flatten with the heel of your hand before feeding it into the aperture a second time, still at the widest setting. Repeat the fold-and-roll four times, dusting with flour as needed.

Advance the aperture by one click. Pass the dough through twice without folding, flouring as needed. Advance the aperture and roll through twice. Cut each piece in half when it gets too long to handle. Roll through narrower apertures until the dough is thin, perhaps stopping at the second-last setting.

Let stand uncovered on a floured countertop or floured tea towel for 15 to 30 minutes, until the top surface is leathery. Turn over and dry the other side.

Put a pot of water on to boil and salt it generously.

Move the hand-crank to the cutter mechanism and crank the dough, catching the noodles as they emerge from beneath the cutter. Lay them on a tea towel dusted with flour. Repeat with the other pieces.

Cook for one to two minutes in boiling salted water. Taste to determine when the noodles are just cooked through, or al dente. Remove from the pot using tongs, not by dumping the noodles and water through a strainer. Toss in sauce and serve immediately.

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However, that uncertainty could also makes predicting market trends rather difficult, according to an analyst.

“All of my comments come with a caveat that any given headline could change everything,” said John Weyer, director of commercial hedging with Walsh Trading in Chicago, adding “we seem to be getting those frequently.”

Wheat is showing the most strength of the grains and oilseeds, with the May Chicago contract rising by about 80 cents per bushel off of its lows to trade above $5.70 per bushel on Wednesday (all figures US$).

“Nobody seems to be too concerned about how many carbs they’re eating,” said Weyer, on the increased retail demand for pasta and flour that was finding its way to support the futures.

Stimulus measures introduced to counter the negative economic impact of the COVID-19 coronavirus were also supportive, according to Weyer, with production issues in France and the Black Sea region also underpinning wheat values.

He expected the May wheat contract would face resistance in the $5.80-$5.90 per bushel area, with a pullback to $5.50 a possibility before the market takes another run higher.

However, “we’re in uncharted territory,” and Weyer noted any fresh news could easily tip the grain markets one way or the other.

Strength in the U.S. dollar could also sway the markets, with the rising currency making U.S. grains and oilseeds less attractive for international buyers.

— Phil Franz-Warkentin reports for MarketsFarm from Winnipeg.

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Anecdotal reports of pasta hoarding, due to COVID-19 coronavirus concerns, were also somewhat supportive.

Cash durum bids in Saskatchewan are currently in the $7.50-$8 per bushel range, according to Prairie Ag Hotwire data. That compares with bids at the beginning of the month that topped out at $7.65 per bushel.

“We’re seeing some better values in Western Canada, because of the stronger demand,” said a durum trader who wished to remain anonymous.

There was a very active export program out of Thunder Bay for April/May/June already on the books, he added.

However, there is uncertainty over European demand amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The trader said “logistics have come to a halt in Europe” which has led to temporary strength in global durum prices. However, longer-term implications remain to be seen.

The durum market is also following dryness in North Africa and the possibility of reduced production there.

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada is now forecasting durum seedings in the country this year at 5.6 million acres, which would be up by 14 per cent on the year. Statistics Canada releases its first survey-based acreage estimates on April 24.

— Phil Franz-Warkentin reports for MarketsFarm from Winnipeg.

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Family-owned Pasta Zara has started court proceedings to get creditor protection after its debt spiralled out of control. The factory, which is located near Tieste, in northern Italy, can produce up to 280,000 tonnes of pasta a year, according to one source close to the matter.

“The factory… has a high capacity and productivity, is well located to serve European and overseas markets and would allow Barilla to respond in an efficient way to a rising global demand for pasta,” Barilla said in a statement.

Barilla’s main plant in Italy is located in Parma and has a production capacity of around 350,000 tonnes of pasta.

The group also makes pasta sauces, bread and biscuits with total sales of around 3.5 billion euros (C$5.24 billion) last year.

In a separate statement Pasta Zara said Barilla’s offer was the best solution for the group, its employees and creditors.

In addition to Barilla, two foreign investors had presented offers to buy the factory, the source said.

— Reporting for Reuters by Francesca Landini and Valentina Za.

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Yet there is one aspect about this year’s crop they already know.

Increased seeded acreage this spring, and market access problems hindering longer-term durum sales, mean farmers might want to temper expectations.

“It’s almost in a way, you can’t buy a break,” said Bruce Burnett, director of MarketsFarm at Glacier FarmMedia.

The combination of plentiful supplies and problems with traditional durum customers in Turkey and Italy will come into play as the crop year progresses, he said.

A good North Dakota durum crop may also limit sales opportunities for Canadian durum into traditional U.S. markets, he added.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s world agricultural supply and demand estimates (WASDE), released Aug. 10, rated the North Dakota durum crop as 80 per cent good to excellent. The U.S. has 35.9 million bushels of durum in storage and 1.89 million seeded acres coming off in this year’s harvest.

In Canada, supplies are also strong.

Though this year’s durum harvest will have smaller yields in many areas, it will not have a major impact on overall supplies, Burnett said.

“I think one of the problems the market is going to have (is) we’ve increased our durum area significantly this year,” he said.

Canadian farmers seeded 6.185 million acres of durum this year, compared to 5.205 million in 2017, according to Statistics Canada. Saskatchewan accounted for 4.99 million.

While lack of moisture and a prolonged heat wave have affected durum-growing areas of southwestern Saskatchewan, and into Alberta, Burnett said other durum areas have fared better.

Areas of south-central Saskatchewan around Assiniboia saw much improved moisture, he said, but the heat will pull down prospects.

“So the yield potentials are not where you think they’d be, given some of the early-season precipitation at least.”

Barry Taylor, who farms near Southey, Sask., about 60 km north of Regina, said most durum in his region looks decent.

Most of his 900 durum acres received about average moisture, he said, but most of that came early in the growing season.

Quality looks about average for his area, he said, but prices are not as good as they could be and he’s hoping to see that turn around.

“I’ve got all my durum and I got all my lentils from last year, so I got to sell something,” he said.

“We’ll get rid of it all. Once we start combining and we see what kind of quality it is, it should be good.”

Burnett said analysts will know more about the quality of this year’s harvest in a week or two, but so far it looks like yield prospects for the southern durum areas decline the further one moves west from Assiniboia.

He said areas of central Saskatchewan, north of the South Saskatchewan River and north of Moose Jaw where there is significant durum area, will have better crops.

With a significant crop coming off fields, and problems with some of Canada’s traditional durum buyers, Burnett said he’s inclined to wait for better news on the supply and market access issues, rather than take up a leader’s position.

A leading farm group in Italy has been protesting Canadian durum use by Italian pasta makers, falsely criticizing Canadian durum for high levels of vomitoxin, glyphosate residue and as being genetically modified.

The Italian government has called on pasta makers to include country-of-origin on labels, which would require them to segregate Canadian durum before use.

Italy has also threatened that it will refuse to sign the trade agreement between the European Union and Canada over the durum dispute. It bought $321 million worth of Canadian durum in 2016.

An economic crisis in Turkey will almost certainly keep that country from becoming a major durum buyer this year.

— Terry Fries writes for Commodity News Service Canada, a Glacier FarmMedia company specializing in grain and commodity market reporting.

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But the international grain markets are not child’s play. The pasta plant is one part of Cigi’s strategy to keep Canadian durum competitive.

When it comes to what durum buyers look for, it depends on the end use. Typically, Italian pasta makers seek durum with high protein content, said Ebbinghaus, technical specialist in Asian products and pasta technology with Cigi.

Higher protein relates to a chewier bite, which Italians prefer, Ebbinghaus told attendees of Combine to Customer during a tour. Durum is milled to semolina, and the grade also affects the semolina colour, Ebbinghaus said.

Durum buyers also look for hard vitreous kernels, and no starchy kernels, said Ebbinghaus. Buyers also avoid diseased kernels. Ergot, for example, creates black specks in the end products.

Couscous makers typically require lower protein durum than pasta makers, Ebbinghaus said, looking for durum with about 10 to 11 per cent protein.

“Colour is extremely important to couscous consumers and also manufacturers. They want that bright yellow colour in durum,” said Ebbinghaus. He added that from what he’s seen, Canada’s durum has the best colour. “So it’s a major plus for us.”

Pasta makers in some country will blend durum with common wheat flour to offset the higher cost of durum, Ebbinghaus said. That practice is more common in South American countries.

However, in Italy, there are restrictions on what pasta makers can use. Generally they are not allowed to use other flours in products labelled as dry pasta, which will be sold in Italy.

Pumping up pasta with pulses

While pasta purists might turn up their noses at anything other than durum in their fettuccini, others are looking for pulses in pasta.

Shelley Lagasse is a pulse and special crops technologist working in Cigi’s pulse milling research program. Lagasse said that they talk to the food industry to make sure their work is relevant.

“A lot of what they’ve said is that in their health and wellness lines, one of their main pillars is using vegetable protein,” said Lagasse. “So the food industry’s interested. We’re just going to create new markets for it.”

Pulses are a nutritional powerhouse. They typically contain 25 per cent protein, plus plenty of fibre. Pulses and wheat also contain different amino acids, and when combined, create a complete protein, Lagasse told Combine to Customer attendees.

When processing pulses, Lagasse said it’s important to think about the end use.

“Not all pulse ingredients function perfectly in different applications. You have to sort of know what your application is to get the specifications you need in the pulse flour,” she said. Some products might require finer or larger particles. Pulses can even be milled into semolina for pasta.

Ebbinghaus said pulses such as yellow peas, chickpeas and lentils can all be used. “You name it, you can add it to pasta.”

Lagasse said how much pulse flour they can incorporate depends on the product. For example, short goods such as macaroni can handle much higher pulse levels than long goods such as spaghetti. Too much pulse flour can create brittle pasta, or pasta that lacks the nice al dente bite, she explained.

With bread, 20 per cent pulse flour seems to be the level that works. “And once you start diluting it too much, you’re getting a more dense volume for the loaf,” said Lagasse.

There are still some challenges around incorporating pulses into pasta.

“One of the drawbacks I find is the North American consumer is not really accustomed to the taste of pulse crops used in the pasta,” said Ebbinghaus. “So it’s something the industry is working on right now.”

Lagasse said those flavour issues can be addressed by treating the pulses before or after milling. For example, processors can use heat to drive off the flavour volatiles, creating a more neutral flavour. Pulse breeders are also looking at developing varieties with a lower flavour profile, she added.

Cigi also has a twin screw extruder, which creates snack foods and cereals, similar to Cheezies and Corn Pops. Ebbinghaus said anything with starch will puff. He added that they typically use 100 per cent pulse flour, and add five to 10 per cent water to the extrusion process for pulse-based snack foods.

“Very simple,” he said. Some products on grocery store shelves are 100 per cent pulse flour, he added.

And that chickpea taste is not an issue with snack foods. For one thing, the heat from the extrusion process likely drives off flavour volatiles, said Lagasse. Plus, food companies add seasonings afterwards which would mask any lingering pulse flavour.

Pasta and snack foods aren’t the only pulse destinations that Cigi is working on. Lagasse said they’re also looking at adding it to vermicelli noodles.

“There’s been some work done on replacing mung bean, which they traditionally use, with yellow pea starch.”

Cigi and Morocco are also working together on a technical “train the trainer” program for Moroccan millers handling durum and pulses. And Sask Pulse, Cigi, and British baking giant Warburtons are working on a project that looks at everything from the growing pulse flour market to milling and storing flour.

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The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) announced Tuesday it has launched an investigation into whether certain pasta products originating in or exported from Turkey are being sold at unfair prices in Canada.

The CBSA probe will also look at whether subsidies are being applied to the Turkish products in question, the agency said.

A parallel preliminary inquiry by the Canadian International Trade Tribunal (CITT) will examine whether the imports are harming Canadian producers, the tribunal said Friday.

The probes follow a complaint from three dry wheat pasta makers — Italpasta of Brampton, Ont., Toronto-based Primo Foods and Montreal-area processor Grisspasta Products — under the banner of the Canadian Pasta Manufacturers Association in Ottawa.

The CPMA members allege their industry faces “lost production, lost sales, price depression, loss of employment, and reduced profitability” due to price undercutting from Turkey, CBSA said Tuesday.

The goods in question are described as “all dry wheat-based pasta, not stuffed or otherwise prepared, and not containing more than two per cent eggs, whether or not enriched, fortified, organic, whole wheat or containing milk or other ingredients, originating in or exported from the Republic of Turkey, excluding refrigerated, frozen or canned pasta.”

The CPMA has been publicly airing allegations of pasta dumping from Turkey for about two years now. CPMA president Don Jarvis told Allan Dawson of the Manitoba Co-operator in early 2016 that Turkish processors were taking advantage of subsidies to make their products using imported Canadian durum and dump those products back into Canada.

In their announcements this week, neither the CBSA nor CITT named any specific company alleged to be moving the Turkish pasta in question to Canada.

Responding last year to the CPMA allegations, the CEO of Saskatchewan-based AGT Food and Ingredients, owner of Turkish pasta processor Arbel Foods, was quoted in Regina’s Leader-Post newspaper as saying the alleged value of the imported Turkish pasta in question was “less than tiny” relative to that of Saskatchewan’s durum exports to Turkey.

CBSA’s specific reasons for agreeing to the investigation won’t be released until Jan. 12, after which importers have until Jan. 18 to respond to CBSA requests for information. Responses from exporters and government are due Feb. 5.

Meanwhile, the CITT expects to issue a preliminary decision by Feb. 26 on whether the Turkish imports cause harm to Canadian producers, and issue its reasons either way by March 13.

Parties or governments wanting to take part in the CITT inquiry have until Jan. 10 to file, while parties opposed to the complaint have until Jan. 25 to file submissions. Rebuttals to those submissions are due by Feb. 1.

CBSA said it would either announce its preliminary findings as to whether the imports are being sold in Canada at unfair and/or subsidized prices, or would shut down its probe without further measures taken, by March 28.

If CBSA’s preliminary findings warrant a full probe, the agency said, it expects to make its final determinations by June 26. — AGCanada.com Network

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“The world still wants (No. 1) CWAD and last year although the profile was mostly (No. 3) CWAD, they still wanted 1 CWAD. So there are a spectrum of markets for durum,” said Doyle, director of export trading with Paterson Grain, during the cereal outlook panel at Grain World in Winnipeg.

Durum crops in Canada in 2016 suffered fusarium damage, which led to lower-quality grain. Grades came in at No. 3 Canada Western Amber Durum (CWAD) and while many markets always want the higher-quality Nos. 1 and 2 grades, they were forced to take the lower-quality grain.

“A lot of buyers had to improvise and so what they did was they sort of managed the specs within the 3 grade, to sort of get minimum vitreous or protein, or whatever aspect they were focused on,” Doyle said.

Countries such as Morocco will buy 600,000 to 700,000 tonnes of No. 1 CWAD usually, according to Doyle. Japan tends to prefer No. 2 or better, but is more flexible than other nations in terms of quality.

This year, however, the durum crop was good-quality, which led to markets being able to buy the higher quality again.

“We’ve seen countries like Morocco switch right back, and of course with the drought in the U.S. they’ve become very strong buyers right out of the box,” Doyle said.

But price does factor into what some markets are willing to buy, he said. For example, Italy, which is world renowned for its pasta, doesn’t usually buy No. 1 CWAD.

“They used to and they will, if the price spread is not too high. It’s a very, very competitive semolina market. The competition in that market is affecting the neighbouring countries,” Doyle said.

But prices have shifted substantially due to the change from such a low- to high-quality durum.

“Obviously the premium for 1 CWAD has really collapsed in comparison to 3s. And so we’ve seen a discount for No. 3 narrowing in very substantially close to harvest,” Doyle said.

The price spread is closing, with Doyle saying this year producers will see the price spread go from $10 to $5 per tonne for No. 1 and 2 CWAD. No. 3 CWAD will drop from $20 to a $10 spread.

— Ashley Robinson writes for Commodity News Service Canada, a Glacier FarmMedia company specializing in grain and commodity market reporting.

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The agriculture and industry ministers signed a decree ordering the new labelling policy, saying it would run in an experimental fashion for two years, and criticizing the European Union for not introducing the measure across the 28-nation bloc.

“We are putting Italy in the vanguard of Europe when it comes to labelling as a competitive tool for the Italian (agriculture) sector,” Agriculture Minister Maurizio Martina said in a statement. He called on the rest of Europe to follow suit and show greater “courage.”

Canadian exporters and farmers fear the move will depress prices in Canada, the biggest global durum exporter, as it will require Italian pasta makers to segregate supplies by country, adding to the cost of moving the wheat to Italy.

Annual Canadian sales to Italy are worth an estimated $248 million, based on average export volumes and International Grains Council price data.

The government decree says pasta packaging must now reveal where the wheat was grown and milled into semolina for pasta-making. Rice packaging will have to state where the rice was grown, treated and packaged.

The Canadian government is seeking clarification from Rome and assessing Italy’s trade obligations under the World Trade Organization and free trade agreement between Canada and the European Union, a spokesman for Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay said.

There is no indication that Italy’s move has affected trade yet, he said.

Cam Dahl, president of Cereals Canada, whose members include Cargill and Richardson International, said he expected Italy’s labels to take effect early next year.

“That would unquestionably harm our exports,” he said.

Italy’s Industry Minister Carlo Calenda said the vast majority of Italian consumers wanted to know the origin of their foodstuffs, adding that it was important to promote Italian farmers.

“We want to emphasize the importance of ‘Made in Italy’ and the quality of our production in order to compete with greater strength on international markets,” he said in a statement.

— Reporting for Reuters by Crispian Balmer in Rome and Rod Nickel in Winnipeg.

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