Canola futures closed lower Wednesday, pressured by lower soybean oil and palm oil.
Canola fell for the fifth day, its longest losing streak since September.
Slow producer deliveries limited the fall.
January canola closed at $586.50, down $6.50.
USDA this week increased slightly its forecast for global soy oil year end stocks, rising to three million tonnes from 2.9 million. However, the stocks would still be smaller than the previous two years.
Malaysia had record high palm oil stocks in November.
Rain is expected in dry parts of southern Brazil, improving crop prospects.
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Hard red spring wheat bids in Western Canada dropped with the U.S. futures during the week ended July 17, as the advancing U.S. winter wheat harvest and a lack of major concerns for North American spring wheat weighed on values.
• The loonie rose again, putting downward pressure on canola. The U.S. Federal Reserve announced its latest stimulus plan, buying $45 billion of treasuries a month to increase the money supply in the hope of sparking economic growth and job creation.
• China’s potential for corn imports has been closely watched because some think the Asian giant could become a dominant feed grain importer as it has become the leading soybean importer.
But it looks like it will be an insignificant player this year.
The China National Grain and Oils Information Center said today it forecasts corn imports of 2.4 million. That is down 54 percent from 5.23 million in 2012.
However, that is up from a September estimate of only one million tonnes in 2013.
To prepare for the futures though, China is test importing corn from Argentina and Ukraine to diversity its sources.
This year China says it grew 208.12 million tonnes of corn, up 9.6 percent.
Consumption is estimated at 205.6 million tonnes.
• Rain in Mississippi, southern Indiana and Ohio in recent days will raise the level of southern reaches of the Mississippi River allowing barge operators to increase draft levels, but the upper Mississippi did not get rain and water levels remain low.
• As EU leaders try to cut the bloc’s trillion euro budget they have cut farm spending.
The European Commission initially proposed a budget for the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) at 389.97 billion euros, adown from the 420.7 billion in the current seven-year budget that ends in 2013.
Several countries urged further cuts and it was knocked down to 364.5 billion. But France and other supporters of farm programs pressed for modifications from that so it was brought back up to 372.2 billion euros.
Winnipeg (per tonne)
Canola Jan 13 $586.50, down $6.50 -1.10%
Canola Mar 13 $583.30, down $6.50 -1.10%
Canola May 13 $581.70, down $6.40 -1.09%
Canola Jul 13 $576.50, down $7.20 -1.23%
Milling Wheat Dec 12 $270.70, unchanged
Milling Wheat Mar 13 $290.50, unchanged
Milling Wheat May 13 $293.50, unchanged
Durum Wheat Dec 12 $312.00, unchanged
Durum Wheat Mar 13 $316.00, unchanged
Durum Wheat May 13 $320.00, unchanged
Barley Dec 12 $245.00, unchanged
Barley Mar 13 $248.00, unchanged
Barley May 13 $249.00, unchanged
Chicago (per bushel)
Soybeans (P) Jan 13 $14.735, up 1.5 cents +0.10%
Soybeans (P) Mar 13 $14.705, down 0.75 -0.05%
Soybeans (P) May 13 $14.55, down 4.0 -0.27%
Soybeans (P) Jul 13 $14.4075, down 5.25 -0.36%
Corn (P) Dec 12 $7.21, down 3.25 -0.45%
Corn (P) Mar 13 $7.255, down 2.5 -0.34%
Corn (P) May 13 $7.285, down 2.0 -0.27%
Oats (P) Dec 12 $3.6925, down 3.5 -0.94%
Oats (P) Mar 13 $3.8525, down 2.75 -0.71%
Oats (P) May 13 $3.90, down 2.25 -0.57%
Minneapolis (per bushel)
Spring Wheat Dec 12 $8.90, down 6.75 -0.75%
Spring Wheat Mar 13 $9.4, down 7.0 -0.77%
Spring Wheat May 13 $9.145, down 7.5 -0.81%
Spring Wheat Jul 13 $9.22, down 7.0 -0.75%
The Bank of Canada noon rate or the loonie was $1.0148 US, up from $1.135 on Tuesday.
The U.S. dollar was 98.54 cents Cdn.
Nearby crude oil in New York rose 98 cents to $86.77 per barrel.
In unofficial tallies:
The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index closed up 70.73 points, or 0.58 percent, at 12,353.09.
The Dow Jones industrial average edged down 2.99 points, or 0.02 percent, to end at 13,245.45.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index inched up 0.64 points, or 0.04 percent, to close at 1,428.48.
The Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 8.49 points, or 0.28 percent, to 3,013.81.
