Here's where Canadians are living abroad: report
A recent report sheds light on Canadians living abroad--estimated at around four million people in 2016—and the public policies that impact them.
Global prices for wheat and corn soared Tuesday after a major dam in Ukraine collapsed, renewing market fears about the fragility of the country's ability to ship food to Africa, the Middle East and parts of Asia as it fights a war with Russia.
Wheat prices gained 2.4% in early trading Tuesday on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, to US $6.39 a bushel. The cost of corn rose more than 1%, to US $6.04 a bushel, and oats gained 0.73%, to US $3.46 per unit. Prices were higher earlier in the day but faded.
The destruction of the Kakhovka dam and hydroelectric power station, which sits in a Russian-controlled area on the Dnieper River, raised concerns about disruption to Ukraine's affordable supplies of wheat, barley, corn and sunflower oil getting to developing nations where people are struggling with hunger and high food prices.
"Anytime this war shows signs of getting further escalated, there's a lot of concern," said Joseph Glauber, senior research fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute. "Markets react to that."
Ukraine and Russia are both major agricultural suppliers and the war's disruption to their exports worsened a global food crisis tied to droughts and other factors. Breakthrough agreements brokered by the U.N. and Turkey last year got food moving again through the Black Sea, but it's faced setbacks.
Russia briefly pulled out of the deal last year, has threatened to leave again, is accused of slowing shipments from Ukraine and has only agreed to renew the deal for two months at a time.
"People are going to be watching to see what happens with the agreement," said Glauber, former chief economist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. "This reminds everyone that it's not just pro forma, that this could be a very serious development if indeed the agreement is broken."
There are massive agricultural fields in southern Ukraine where the dam burst, and while the collapse has endangered crops in the path of the floodwaters, Glauber says less wheat has been planted in that area because it's near the fighting and a lot is growing elsewhere.
The collapse has threatened drinking water supplies, with officials also warning of a looming environmental disaster -- pointing to oil escaping from the dam machinery and significant flooding.
Andrey Sizov, managing director of Black Sea agricultural markets research firm SovEcon, said the dam collapse looked "like a big escalation with dire consequences and huge headline risk."
"This could be just the start of the bull run," Sizov wrote on Twitter early Tuesday.
The wheat futures rally overnight and early Tuesday lost steam as the day progressed. As of around 3 p.m. ET, for example, the price of wheat was down to US $6.27 a bushel.
Wheat, vegetable oil and other food commodity prices have fallen from record highs last year after Russia invaded Ukraine -- thanks in part to the Black Sea grain deal -- but the relief in prices has not made it to markets, grocery stores and kitchen tables.
Citi commodities analysts called the dam breach a "reminder of lingering inflationary risk in the goods market."
It's possible temporary jumps in prices follow significant news events, like the dam collapse, analysts say.
But circumstances are key -- and expectations for food exports from Ukraine will likely "continue to diminish as we recognize that Ukrainian production will continue to be severely impaired because of the war," said Joe Janzen, assistant professor at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign's College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences.
The supply of grain Ukraine is able to export is 40% lower than it was two years ago, Glauber said.
------
Bonnell reported from London.
A recent report sheds light on Canadians living abroad--estimated at around four million people in 2016—and the public policies that impact them.
Polish President Andrzej Duda says while no decision has been made around whether Poland will host nuclear weapons as part of an expansion of the NATO alliance’s nuclear sharing program, his country is willing and prepared to do so.
Harvey Weinstein’s lawyer said Saturday that the onetime movie mogul has been hospitalized for a battery of tests after his return to New York City following an appeals court ruling nullifying his 2020 rape conviction.
One person was killed in a six-vehicle crash on Highway 400 in Innisfil Friday evening.
Ontario is now home to an invasive and toxic worm species that can grow up to three feet long and can be dangerous to small animals and pets.
A number of LGBQT+2s groups in Central Alberta are pushing back against a request from the Red Deer South UCP constituency to reinstate MLA Jennifer Johnson into the UCP caucus.
It's one thing to say you like Taylor Swift and her music, but don't blame CNN's AJ Willingham's when she says she just 'doesn't get' the global phenomenon.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
A girl and a boy, both 14 years old, made their first appearance today in a Halifax courtroom, where they each face a second-degree murder charge in the stabbing death of a 16-year-old high school student.
As if a 4-0 Edmonton Oilers lead in Game 1 of their playoff series with the Los Angeles Kings wasn't good enough, what was announced at Rogers Place during the next TV timeout nearly blew the roof off the downtown arena.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
A property tax bill is perplexing a small townhouse community in Fergus, Ont.
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”