Adverse weather in Canada, Europe and Russia has pushed the price of wheat sharply higher in the past week, as the once high-flying commodity rallies from recent depressed lows.
Like crude oil and other commodities in 2008, the price of wheat (ZW-FT548.5018.003.39%)spiked to extremely high levels during the months before the credit crisis hit. Since then, beyond short rallies, the price of wheat has plunged as supply has risen.
But bad weather in major wheat producing regions – heavy rain in Saskatchewan, severe hot and dry weather in Russia and Kazakhstan – has stirred buying interest among investors. The latest surge has also been amplified by investors who had bet wheat prices would keep falling but who are now buying futures contracts to cover their short bets.
The surging price of wheat could provide a boost for Canadian Prairie farmers facing losses because of recent flooding – but only for those who were able to get a crop in the ground.
Wheat prices are up by about a third in the past six weeks, thanks mainly to prospects for a poor crop from Russia, other parts of Europe, and Western Canada.
"A severe drought and very hot temperatures are no doubt going to take quite a toll on spring wheat production across Russia," said Patricia Mohr, commodity market specialist at Bank of Nova Scotia.
Sask. June job postings experience biggest decline in Canada
REGINA — Saskatchewan job postings posted the biggest decline in the country in June on the Conference Board of Canada`s help-wanted index, indicating a slackening job market.
By contrast, online job postings across Canada rose in June, the ninth increase in the past 11 months, as the labour market continued to strengthen, according to the Ottawa-based.
The index was up 1.6 points during the month to 98.2 —up 14 percentage points from its July 2009 level.
REGINA — Saskatchewan bucked the national trend by posting a big increase in bankruptcies in May over the previous month, according to the federal agency responsible for bankruptcy statistics.
But the province`s personal and business bankruptcy situation looks considerably brighter when May`s numbers are compared with last year`s.
Bankruptcies in Canada fell 9.2 per cent in May from the month before, the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcies reported Monday.
Sask. residents receiving EI down 0.4% in May from April
REGINA — The number of people receiving Employment Insurance (EI) benefits in Saskatchewan declined 0.4 per cent in May from April, according to Statistics Canada.
But the number of EI beneficiaries was higher in Regina (10.4 per cent) and Saskatoon (17.4 per cent) than in May 2009, the report said Thursday.
Doug Elliott of SaskTrends Monitor, a monthly statistical newsletter, said the number of EI beneficiaries in Saskatchewan has been going down since the beginning of the year.