At the breakfast, I sat at the same table as Gord Kurbis, Director of Corporate Policy with the CWB. He disputed the now somewhat infamous news story out of Algeria, quoting an Algerian official who said that the CWB was selling wheat to the Algerian state trading agency at a discount of tens of dollars per tonne. Mr. Kurbis said that the English translation that made its way to Canada was inaccurate. So, I dug up the Algerian article, if you are inclined to read the French. The key quote comes two-thirds of way into the first paragraph:
"Les prix de vente à l'Algérie de 400 000 à 500 000 tonnes de blé annuellement sont bien étudiés puisque ce sont des prix préférentiels. Ces derniers font gagner à l'Algérie plusieurs dizaines de dollars sur la tonne achetée."
My own French skills being what they are, I plugged the quote into an online translator. Intrigued by this, I double checked it with a friend who speaks fluent French. Translation: It is well known that the sale prices to Algeria on 400,000 to 500,000 tonnes of wheat annually are preferential prices. They save Algeria tens of dollars per purchased tonne.
I have a difficult time understanding how there could be any confusion about the meaning. I just don't know why some farmers continue to fall for the CWB party line. The CWB claims that it can price discriminate, charging different prices to different markets to maximize returns. I don't understand where undercutting our competitors by tens of dollars per tonne qualifies as maximizing returns.
UPDATE: (Feb 12, 2007) Check out this exchange between the CWB and US Wheat Associates for more info on translation-gate, or whatever we might call this misunderstanding. (Scroll down to item number three.)
1 comment:
The CWB has publicly attempted to "correct" the english translation that can be found on the US wheat associates website. Interestingly, the CWB has a problem with the phrase "low prices" as used by the US Wheat Associates. But they don't correct the line about "preferential prices" worth "tens of dollars per tonne".
Low prices or preferential prices.
What's the difference?
I had my own translation done by someone in the grain business who was actually very familiar with the Algerian business. His translation said the same thing - preferential prices - but also said the CWB is very flexible in terms of shipping, pricing and grades.
I think the CWB owes durum farmers a much better explanation.
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