Canada’s domination of the North American industrial hemp market is fading.
According the Saskatchewan-based website The Western Producer, Canadian farmers grew all the hempseed in North America as recently as 2013 – while Canadian processors sold hemp oil, protein and seed to U.S. customers and overseas markets.
But now overproduction in Western Canada, coupled with the growing numbers of U.S. farms cultivating hemp, has pressured hemp prices.
The website says conventional hemp prices fell 20 to 20 cents per pound in Canada this past spring, to around 50 to 55 cents per pound.
It also quotes Health Canada, the nation’s regulator of industrial hemp, which reports Canadian farmers planted 138,000 acres of hemp last year – up from 70,000 acres in 2015 and 100,000 acres in 2016.
Another factor: South Korea, a major purchaser of Canadian hemp seed and hemp products, is purchasing more hemp from China, which is selling its industrial hemp at lower prices.
