Imports of US Corn Up Sharply

Canadian imports of US corn are up more than seven-fold in 2021-22 as Prairie feedlot operators continue to source feed from the other side of the border.

The USDA’s weekly export sales report for the week ended March 17 showed accumulated US corn sales to Canada stood at more than 2.14 million tonnes. A year ago they were a little under 295,000 tonnes. Outstanding sales were just below 1.4 million tonnes for this year compared to about 291,000 12 months ago.

Canadian imports have spiked in the wake of last summer’s Prairie drought which dramatically reduced domestic feedgrain supplies, including barley. Agriculture Canada is projecting total imports of US corn for the year will reach 4 million tonnes.

Erin Harakal, senior trader at Agfinity in Stony Plain, AB, said feed barley prices are now about C$435/tonne for April movement, with wheat around $435 to $440. She quoted corn at about C$460/tonne.

Feed prices have remained fairly steady over the last week and are likely to remain fairly static for the coming week, Harakal added.

“I don’t see anything drastically changing in the next week,” she said.

A work stoppage at CP Rail did raise concerns about the movement of US corn into the Prairies earlier this week, but workers returned to their jobs after just a couple of days after the two sides in the dispute agreed to binding arbitration as means of hammering out a new contract agreement.