The flatness of the crop futures market continued Wednesday as a lack of real news allowed prices to grind along unconvincingly.
Crop prices have been remarkably calm in recent sessions, regardless of the vulnerable state of the Northern Hemisphere’s crops as they come close to reaching maturity.
As in all recent days, the underlying mood of the markets is gently bearish because little exists to challenge the belief that big crops are about to come. No surprises seem to be leaping out at traders, and weather events are not profound enough to budge the outlook much.
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With each day crops get closer to safety so there is less of a chance to cause a major impact, although a widespread frost or days of soaking rains and cold could upend the apple cart still.
Canola was down a couple of cents, spring wheat was up a cent and oats were down three cents. Corn barely moved and soybeans were down a few cents.
The most exciting crop futures markets were the Kansas City and Chicago winter wheat futures, which rose five to seven cents per bushel.
Most commodities were flaccid Wednesday and stock markets settled back a bit after reaching all-time record highs on the Standard and Poors 500.
The crawl toward Labour Day continues, with late summer listlessness in the air, but with September the markets tend to become more spry, and this relaxed mood is unlikely to last. Late summer trading can be twitchy, with low volumes and fewer players allowing volatility to reign, or it can be a period where it’s hard to find any excitement or movement at all in the absence of big news. The latter seems to be the mood of the moment.
ICE Futures Canada, dollars per tonne
Canola Nov 2014 421.90 -1.50 -0.35%
Canola Jan 2015 427.50 -1.40 -0.33%
Canola Mar 2015 432.40 -1.30 -0.30%
Canola May 2015 433.90 -1.30 -0.30%
Canola Jul 2015 434.10 -0.70 -0.16%
Milling Wheat Oct 2014 204.00 -1.00 -0.49%
Milling Wheat Dec 2014 209.00 +1.00 +0.48%
Milling Wheat Mar 2015 217.00 unch 0.00%
Durum Wheat Oct 2014 250.00 unch 0.00%
Durum Wheat Dec 2014 256.00 unch 0.00%
Durum Wheat Mar 2015 257.00 unch 0.00%
Barley Oct 2014 135.00 unch 0.00%
Barley Dec 2014 137.00 unch 0.00%
Barley Mar 2015 138.00 unch 0.00%
American crop prices in cents US/bushel, soybean meal in $US/short ton, soy oil in cents US/pound
Chicago
Soybeans Sep 2014 1085.75 +10.25 +0.95%
Soybeans Nov 2014 1023.75 -4.25 -0.41%
Soybeans Jan 2015 1031.75 -3.75 -0.36%
Soybeans Mar 2015 1039.25 -3 -0.29%
Soybeans May 2015 1045 -3 -0.29%
Soybeans Jul 2015 1049.75 -3 -0.28%
Soybean Meal Sep 2014 416.5 +27.8 +7.15%
Soybean Meal Dec 2014 344.2 +0.7 +0.20%
Soybean Oil Sep 2014 32.67 -0.36 -1.09%
Soybean Oil Oct 2014 32.7 -0.35 -1.06%
Soybean Oil Dec 2014 32.81 -0.36 -1.09%
Corn Sep 2014 356 unch 0.00%
Corn Dec 2014 365 unch 0.00%
Corn Mar 2015 378.25 -0.25 -0.07%
Corn May 2015 386.5 -0.25 -0.06%
Corn Jul 2015 393.25 -0.25 -0.06%
Oats Sep 2014 359.75 unch 0.00%
Oats Dec 2014 341 -3.75 -1.09%
Oats Mar 2015 328 -4 -1.20%
Oats May 2015 319.25 -4.5 -1.39%
Oats Jul 2015 316.75 -4 -1.25%
Wheat Sep 2014 547.25 +5.75 +1.06%
Wheat Dec 2014 562.25 +5.75 +1.03%
Wheat Mar 2015 582.5 +5.5 +0.95%
Wheat May 2015 593 +5.5 +0.94%
Wheat Jul 2015 599.25 +4.5 +0.76%
Minneapolis
Spring Wheat Sep 2014 610.25 -2.5 -0.41%
Spring Wheat Dec 2014 626.75 +1 +0.16%
Spring Wheat Mar 2015 639.5 +1.25 +0.20%
Spring Wheat May 2015 648.75 +0.75 +0.12%
Spring Wheat Jul 2015 656.5 +1 +0.15%
Kansas City
Hard Red Wheat Sep 2014 628 +7 +1.13%
Hard Red Wheat Dec 2014 638 +6.25 +0.99%
Hard Red Wheat Mar 2015 646.5 +5.5 +0.86%
Hard Red Wheat Jul 2015 640.25 +5.5 +0.87%
Light crude oil nearby futures in New York rose 2 cents at $93.88 US per barrel.
The Bank of Canada noon rate for the loonie was 91.82 cents US, up from 91.32 cents the previous trading day. The U.S. dollar at noon was $1.0891 Cdn.
