The invasion of Ukraine by Russia touches us all. The unfolding tragedy hits close to home given the large Ukrainian community in Canada. Acknowledging the immense human and economic tolls of the war, we will focus here on the economic impacts on the Canadian ag and food sectors of the conflict and the associated sanctions.
Trade with Ukraine and Russia
An expected outcome of the war is that trade with Ukraine will slow down and that sanctions imposed on Russia will make trade with that country more difficult. Both Ukraine and Russia are not large trade partners to Canadian ag and food businesses. In the last five years, Canada has exported on average $65 million in ag and food products to Ukraine and imported for about $33 million of these products. Over the same period, on average, Canada has exported $80 million and imported for $93 million in ag and food products to Russia. These markets are small compared to Canada’s main trading partners, nonetheless they can be important to some Canadian businesses.
Grains and oilseeds
We expect the war to have an important impact on the grains and oilseeds market, adding more volatility to already unpredictable markets. Ukraine and Russia are major exporters of barley, corn, canola, wheat and sunflower oil (Table 1). If the conflict and accompanying sanctions negatively impact the production or the movement of those commodities, shortage on the world market or shifts in trade flows would cause prices to rise... Read More
The invasion of Ukraine by Russia touches us all. The unfolding tragedy hits close to home given the large Ukrainian community in Canada. Acknowledging the immense human and economic tolls of the war, we will focus here on the economic impacts on the Canadian ag and food sectors of the conflict and the associated sanctions.