Newsroom
2007
Giant global importers share their perspectives
Speakers arrive from China, India and Brazil for GrainWorld 2007
Winnipeg – Speakers from grain importing countries comprising 40 per cent of the world’s population will share their perspectives on developing trends next week at GrainWorld 2007, Canada’s premiere grains industry outlook conference.
The conference, which takes place at the Fairmont Winnipeg from Feb. 25 to 27, welcomes experts from three key grain importing nations – India, China and Brazil. Recent shifts in demand from these three countries due to government policy, agricultural practices or weather is having significant impact on global demand fundamentals for grain.
Their unique window on the world’s grain market will be presented in the first conference panel, “Investigating Giant Global Import Markets,” which begins at 9 a.m. on Monday. Feb. 26, moderated by agricultural journalist John Morriss.
“Understanding what’s going on in these key nations is very important to maintaining a competitive marketing edge for a country like Canada, which exports so much of its grain production,” said GrainWorld chair Rick Steinke. “Hearing directly from grain buyers in these areas can help us all gain a more in-depth understanding of the opportunities and challenges for marketing Western Canadian grain.”
Steinke, who is Director of Market Analysis at the Canadian Wheat Board, said GrainWorld keeps its focus on topics of primary importance to today’s agricultural marketplace. Its backbone is the indepth market outlook sessions which take place across both days on wheat, barley, oilseeds, pulse and special crops, beef , pork and the weather.
Marc Levesque, TD Securities’ Chief Fixed Income Strategist for North America, will give the 2007 economic outlook at lunch on Monday. The implications for grain from Canada’s new food guide will be the Tuesday breakfast topic, presented by nutritionist Laura Pasut. The U.S. Farm Bill will be the subject of Tuesday’s luncheon, with a presentation from James Webster, an agricultural analyst who works near Washington, D.C.
Tuesday morning’s panel focuses on the timely and relevant topic of energy – conventional, biodiesel and ethanol, with speakers from Toronto, New York and Missouri.
“The market mover this year has definitely been U.S. ethanol demand and its impact on corn,” Steinke said. “The ongoing effects of ethanol will continue to be front-and-centre for the grain markets in the foreseeable future.”
For more information on GrainWorld, or to register, call (204) 983-4236. Online registration is available at www.cwb.ca . Media are welcome at all sessions and accredited journalists are invited to register at no charge.
For more information, please contact:
Caroline Wiley
Conference coordinator
Tel: (204) 983-4236
Rick Steinke
Conference chair
(204) 983-4265