The Monopoly Behind The Mineral

[cottonpicken]

The one scenario im scared of is the god damn indian
bands buying it with our tax dollars.

This is actually being talked about.

[cottonpicken]

-forgot to note pars already brought this up

[sumdumguy]

CWB is an OLIGOPOLY not a Monopoly. They would be a monopoly if they were the only seller or controlling seller of wheat and barley. How do you figure they fit that scenario? Is the CWB big enough to dictate selling price? I beg to differ.

Chuck-Chuck- that's why they can buy at their own arbitrary price from you- they are the only buyer of export wheat and barley. TOTAL OPPOSITE

[gregpet]

Chuck I guess the arguement went along the lines of the east only has a small amount of wheat to export compared to the west blah blah blah. So the single desk was not a requirement out east. Now Sask has 50% of the known reserves of potash, monopoly will more than likely work, not to many other options.

My arguement, on the world stage the CWB controls about 5% of the worlds supply of wheat. Was too small of a market in the east to matter in Canada so I feel the CWB has too small a market share to control the selling price on a world stage. Has been shown by some tenders and sales that the CWB sells for less not more than the world arbitrage price.

So once again show me numbers and I will have no choice but to believe in the single desk, until then don't tell me CWB is the best option back it up by some facts please.

[jdepape]

chuckChuck:

Take a read here:

<a href=http://cwbmonitor.blogspot.com/2010/10/is-this-deal-you-want.html>Is this the deal you want?</a>

and then come back and tell us how the CWB system is working for durum farmers.

Better yet - explain your solutions. Because that's what we really need.

[chuckChuck]

Jdepape. I do not and likely you do not have enough information to look at how the CWB is handling the world durum market. Unless you are involved in the day to day world market it is hard to know exactly what is going on in the marketplace. The CWB are the ones who can supply the data and market analysis and answer your specific questions.

But I do know that comparing what the US spot market price is to a pooled price in Canada is not a fair comparison. 1. Domestic usage is much higher in the US. 2.They are closer to majority of the mills in their domestic market which affects transport costs and farmer returns. 3. We can't sell all our durum into US market.

If you go back a couple of years ago durum was bringing $20 per bushel in the US. Canadian farmers ended up with around $12 in the pool. The majority of US farmers sold for under $7. Sure some farmers sold much higher. But on average the returns were higher for Canadian producers at $12.

Pooled prices will never reflect the peak of any market. Most market advisers advise producers not to guess where the market is going but to hedge price risk by selling a portion of their crop throughout the marketing year. Unless you have a crystal ball, you don't know what next year supply and demand are going to be.

[bucket]

Can some of these board supporters explain to me how canpotex works?

I have a pretty good idea and it is nothing like the cwb. Apples and oranges.

For one thing canpotex ensures profits. Won't make a deal on members behalf unless there is money being made.

Big difference right there.

[chuckChuck]

For those of you looking for information on what prices farmers received on average and in each month in the US go to the link below. Note that US farmers received only around $9.00 on average for durum in 2007/2008. Our durum brought around 12.00 in the pool if my memory serves me correctly.

http://www.ers.usda.gov/Data/Wheat/YBtable18.asp

[chuckChuck]

make that 9.92 in 2007/2008 Durum

[chuckChuck]

JDepape. Please note that the USDA is reporting the weighted average farmer selling price in the US for September 2010 is $5.01 per bushel

http://www.ers.usda.gov/Data/Wheat/YBtable18.asp