Canada: Booming Chinese demand drives canola exports

The Canadian grain and oilseed sector continues to have an overreliance on Chinese exports, which was illustrated by the Canadian Grain Commission’s August report on exports of Canadian grain and wheat flour. China imported 796,900 tonnes of grain, oilseeds and pulses during the month, which is the highest level in more than 10 years. This year does stand out because the bulk of the exports were canola at 718,000 tonnes. This is the best start to the Chinese canola export program on record. Remember that the August exports occurred before the announcement by the Chinese government that it was going to investigate canola dumped into its market. It is obvious to everyone that the anti-dumping investigation is linked to the announcement that Canada was going to increase the duties on Chinese electric vehicles to 100 per cent. For good measure, the Canadian government added a 25 per cent tariff to steel and aluminum imports. Why would China be importing Canadian canola at a record ...