open i

openi.co.uk
factotum@openi.co.uk

Home | Recent opinions | Chronologies | About the open i


open i's 2008 Archive


Author's comments

Note to Editors: While the information on this website is copyrighted, you are welcome to use it as is provided that you quote the source and notify the author.
If copy is of interest to you, but you find it a little dated and/or not quite suitable for your readership and you wish to use it with revisions, contact the author. In most instances I should be able to revise it at short notice.
If you wish exclusive us of copy, again contact the author and this can be arranged.

Caution: Be warned Opinion and Analysis like fresh fish and house guests begins to smell after a few days. Always take note of the date of any opinion or analysis. If you want an update on anything that has been be covered by the open i, contact the author .

Opinion & Analysis: Opinion without analysis or reasoning and Analysis without opinion or conclusion are equally useless. So Opinion and Analysis are a continuum. Copy that puts emphasis on and quantifies reasoning is identified as Analysis. In the interest of readability the presentation of analytical elements may be abridged. If you require more than is presented, contact the author.

Retro Editing: It is my policy generally not to edit material after it has been published. What represents fair comment for the time will be kept, even if subsequent events change the situation. Understanding the wisdom of the time is of value. Struck-out text may be used to indicate changed situations. Contact the author for explanations.

The body of the text of anything that proves to be embarrassingly fallacious will be deleted, but the summary will be retained with comment as to why the deletion has occurred. This will act as a reminder to the author to be more careful.

Contact:
David Walker
Edmonton, Alberta
T6H 1Y8, Canada
phone: +01 780 434 7615
email: davidw@OpenI.co.uk
top of page

By date of publication, 2008

  1. December 9, 2008: ANALYSIS: Canadian Wheat Update - A relative large and good quality Canadian wheat crop is expected to result in well above average Canadian exports.
  2. November 10, 2008: ANALYSIS: Oat Market Update - UK and European oat production has increased. The UK market appears relatively well balanced with further increases in milling demand but European prospects are less favourable as increased supplies compete in feed markets.
  3. November 10, 2008: ANALYSIS: Canadian Barley Situation - With relatively low supplies but favourable quality and an advanced sales position, Canada is likely to sustain malting barley exports in a much more competitive market.
  4. September 29, 2008: ANALYSIS: US and Canadian Wheat Prospects - are less favourable than last year but those for hard wheats have held up better than those for soft wheats which compete more directly with increased supplies from across Europe.
  5. September 15, 2008: ANALYSIS: Ocean Freight Rates - set a record level in May 2008. Softening global economic prospects may not have a major impact but a growing dry bulk fleet may mean lower rates.
  6. August 18, 2008: ANALYSIS: North American Crop Update - prospects are more favourable than a year ago, with a recovery in US maize and soyabean crop conditions and above average yield prospects for Canadian crops.
  7. August 4, 2008: ANALYSIS: US Maize Crop Development - the recovery from excessive moisture concerns has been dramatic.
  8. July 7, 2008: ANALYSIS: Outstanding US Export Sales - probably a good reflection of the anxiety of importers over the adequacy of world supplies.
  9. June, 2008: ANALYSIS: 2008 Australian Pulse Prospects - concerns are already developing over Australia's Oct/Nov harvest: featured in the summer 2008 Alberta Pulse Crop News.
  10. June 23, 2008: ANALYSIS: The Worth of Wheat - after Inflation - which has eroded the real value of everything including wheat.
  11. May 27, 2008: ANALYSIS: Grains and Oilseeds Trade Outlook - biofuels no longer appear the threat to dry cargo supply that until recently they seemed to be.
  12. May 26, 2008: ANALYSIS: North American Crop Update - A late spring in North America means that crop prospects are less certain at this time than they normally are.
  13. April, 2008: ANALYSIS: A Canadian perspective on the Australian pulse industry - our most significant competitor in the international pulse market: featured in the spring 2008 Alberta Pulse Crop News.
  14. April 14, 2008: ANALYSIS: US 2008 Prospective Plantings - the USDA’s survey indicated that US farmers plan to plant a total of 104.9Mha, up 1.9Mha from 2007, the largest area since 2000. Wheat export potential is maintained, maize reduced.
  15. March 31, 2008: ANALYSIS: Futures Market Prices - not for the moment reflecting meaningful value.
  16. March 3, 2008: ANALYSIS: US Outlook Conference in Brief - interest centered on the major commodity supply use and price projections for the major crops, the first for 2008/09.
  17. February 19 2008: ANALYSIS: International Fertilizer Prices - although a world wide phenomenon, the recent rise may not be sustained. But supplies are unlikely to pressure prices for some time.
top of page
Maintained by:David Walker . Copyright © 2009. David Walker. Copyright & Disclaimer Information. Last Revised/Reviewed: 090317