Canola up 17 cents/bu. on U.S. dust storms

There is nothing like March dust storms in the southern Plains to send wheat futures skyward, and that was the situation Monday, traders said.

May and July hard red winter wheat futures rose 23 cents per bushel, spring wheat futures contracts rose about 20 cents and soft red winter wheat rose 21 cents after exposed hard red winter fields suffered a weekend of winds.

“The funds are still playing it,” said broker Ken Ball of P.I. Financial in Winnipeg.

“There’s no real fresh news. They’re still anxious about Ukraine. They’re still watching the winter wheat situation in the southern Plains.”

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Dryness also prevails in Eastern Europe and in areas of Ukraine and Russia, reducing yield potentials there.

The situation around the key Black Sea exporting region also had anxious buyers taking some coverage. Little bloodshed or destruction has occurred during the Russian invasion of Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula, something that has relieved markets in recent days, but the massing of Russian troops elsewhere along the Ukraine border has reignited fears that something could cause significant disruptions of Black Sea shipments.

Most other crop commodities rose in sympathy with wheat, with corn rising 10 cents, soybeans 16 and canola 17 cents per bushel. Soybeans were helped by technical factors after overnight weakness but hurt by U.S. Department of Agriculture export inspections that came in beneath the low end of estimates, at 732,132 tonnes versus the expected range of 770,000 to 925,000.

Corn exports surprised to the upside, coming in at 1.14 million tonnes versus an expected range of 800,000 to one million tonnes.

After the close, the USDA released weekly state crop condition reports. Kansas, the largest wheat producing states, changed little with its poor to very poor rating rising one point to 21 percent.

The poor to very poor rating in Oklahoma increased to 42 percent from 37 percent the week before.

The worst two categories in Texas rose  to 55 percent from 52 the week before.

Winnipeg ICE Futures Canada dollars per tonne

Canola May 2014    448.00    +7.50    +1.70%
Canola Jul 2014    457.50    +7.60    +1.69%
Canola Nov 2014    474.90    +8.40    +1.80%
Canola Jan 2015    482.30    +8.90    +1.88%
Canola Mar 2015    489.50    +9.00    +1.87%

Milling Wheat May 2014    229.00    +7.00    +3.15%
Milling Wheat Jul 2014    226.00    +7.00    +3.20%
Milling Wheat Oct 2014    227.00    +6.00    +2.71%

Durum Wheat May 2014    250.00    unch    0.00%
Durum Wheat Jul 2014    250.00    unch    0.00%
Durum Wheat Oct 2014    252.00    unch    0.00%

Barley May 2014    130.50    unch    0.00%

Barley Jul 2014    128.50    unch    0.00%
Barley Oct 2014    128.50    unch    0.00%

American crop prices in cents US/bushel, soybean meal in $US/short ton, soy oil in cents US/pound

Chicago
Soybeans May 2014    1425.5    +16.75    +1.19%
Soybeans Jul 2014    1398.75    +16.5    +1.19%
Soybeans Aug 2014    1338.25    +12.75    +0.96%
Soybeans Sep 2014    1241.25    +9.5    +0.77%
Soybeans Nov 2014    1184    +6.75    +0.57%
Soybeans Jan 2015    1188    +6.75    +0.57%

Soybean Meal May 2014    462    +6.1    +1.34%
Soybean Meal Jul 2014    447.7    +6.8    +1.54%
Soybean Meal Aug 2014    424.8    +6    +1.43%

Soybean Oil May 2014    40.84    -0.18    -0.44%
Soybean Oil Jul 2014    41.03    -0.16    -0.39%
Soybean Oil Aug 2014    40.88    -0.12    -0.29%

Corn May 2014    490    +11    +2.30%
Corn Jul 2014    494.5    +10.75    +2.22%
Corn Sep 2014    490.5    +9.5    +1.98%
Corn Dec 2014    487.75    +7.75    +1.61%
Corn Mar 2015    495.5    +7.5    +1.54%

Oats May 2014    417.5    +2.5    +0.60%
Oats Jul 2014    378.5    +5    +1.34%
Oats Sep 2014    345    +8.5    +2.53%
Oats Dec 2014    335.75    +8.25    +2.52%
Oats Mar 2015    330.75    +6.25    +1.93%

Wheat May 2014    714.5    +21.25    +3.07%
Wheat Jul 2014    716.75    +21.25    +3.06%
Wheat Sep 2014    723.5    +21    +2.99%
Wheat Dec 2014    732.5    +20.5    +2.88%
Wheat Mar 2015    737.75    +20.25    +2.82%

Minneapolis
Spring Wheat May 2014    763    +19.75    +2.66%
Spring Wheat Jul 2014    759.25    +20    +2.71%
Spring Wheat Sep 2014    761    +19.5    +2.63%
Spring Wheat Dec 2014    766.75    +18    +2.40%
Spring Wheat Mar 2015    772    +18.5    +2.46%

Kansas City
KC HRW Wheat May 2014    794.5    +23.25    +3.01%

KC HRW Wheat Jul 2014    790.25    +23.75    +3.10%
KC HRW Wheat Sep 2014    791.75    +22    +2.86%
KC HRW Wheat Dec 2014    798.25    +20.5    +2.64%
KC HRW Wheat Mar 2015    796.75    +18.75    +2.41%

Light crude oil nearby futures in New York rose 14 cents at $99.60 US per barrel.

The Canadian dollar at noon was 89.15 cents US, down from 89.33 cents the previous trading day. The U.S. dollar at noon was $1.1217 Cdn.

The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index  closed down 57.21 points, or 0.40 percent, at 14,278.55.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 26.08 points or 0.16 percent, to end at 16,276.69.

The S&P 500 dropped 9.08 points or 0.49 percent, to finish at 1,857.44.

The Nasdaq Composite slid 50.403 points or 1.18 percent, to close at 4,226.385.