Strong export demand for Canadian mustard from the U.S. and Europe has stabilized new crop prices as harvest continues to near, Patrick Ackerman, chair of the Saskatchewan Mustard Development Commission (SMDC), said.
“Mustard seed acres have been down the last few years and there’s demand across the world for the product, so they are having to pay for it to get it out of bins,” he said. “North American demand is very stable and European demand on the brown mustard side has really picked up this summer.”
Ackerman said Europe’s increased demand for Canadian brown mustard is due to the unreliable eastern European supply.
“Europe has tried to depend on the eastern European market for their supply the last couple of years, but it’s unreliable and unstable to them,” he said. “The quality isn’t as good as Canadian mustard, so they’ve been using ours as a blend with their eEastern European product.”
“I think because demand has picked up quite substantially in the last couple of months, it’s more of a supply issue over there,” Ackerman added.
According to Prairie Ag Hotwire’s prices for July 22, new- and old-crop yellow mustard is topping out at 41 cents Canadian per pound, while new- and old-crop brown mustard is topping out at 40 cents per pound.
“I think prices are going to stay where they are,” Ackerman said. “I don’t think they’re going to pick up going into harvest. They will either stay the same or drop a cent, but they will be stable.”
Looking at crop development, Ackerman said most are in good shape and well into their podding stage.
“The majority of crops are in very good condition and well into podding stages now,” he said. “Most of the areas have had adequate rainfall, so right now they just need mid-20s (degrees Celsius) temperatures and some sunshine to keep developing.”
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