Canola holds its own in slow market

Wheat, corn and soybeans fell Monday, but canola fought a rearguard action and managed to withdraw gracefully under the fire.

Even for the crops falling, though, it was more of a skirmish than a battle, with nothing of significance appearing to occur in the Monday session.

“Soybean markets were sluggish but canola held up pretty well,” said Ken Ball, a broker with P.I. Financial in Winnipeg.

“If it had followed the soy markets completely, it would have been down three or four dollars, but it only closed down a dollar.”

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Soybeans, soybean meal and soy oil all fell, but not by a lot. Canola closed down $1.20 per tonne for the January contract.

The most impressive change Monday was the drop in wheat futures contract prices, which had been surging in past days. Monday Chicago winter wheat fell 13-14 cents per bushel, Kansas City winter wheat fell 11 cents and Minneapolis spring wheat fell 12 cents.

The drop back, however, only took prices back slightly from where they had reached in recent days.

Some rain in the U.S. winter wheat area was the peg some traders hung the losses on, with moisture seeming to alleviate some fears of dryness slightly. Anyway, people demand a tangible reason for prices to move so that’s the one they dumped out Monday.

U.S. crop conditions are reported Monday afternoon, so that might provide something fresh to trade on.

Often at this time of year little rallies occur in soybeans, but traders are finding this year’s market comparatively quiet. Ball said there aren’t a lot of hot money traders looking to leap into agricultural commodities right now.

“We don’t have a lot of that money around right now and it’s been declining,” said Ball.

Contact ed.white@producer.com

Light crude oil nearby futures in New York were down 45 cents to US$46.14 per barrel.
The Canadian dollar at noon was US76.37 cents, down from 76.44 cents the previous trading day. The U.S. dollar at noon was C$1.3095.

Winnipeg ICE Futures Canada dollars per tonne
Canola Nov 2015   463.50   +0.80   +0.17%
Canola Jan 2016   472.20   -1.20   -0.25%
Canola Mar 2016   478.10   -1.40   -0.29%

Canola May 2016 480.30 -1.80 -0.37%
Canola Jul 2016 480.00 -2.30 -0.48%

Milling Wheat Dec 2015   235.00   -5.00   -2.08%
Milling Wheat Mar 2016   240.00   -5.00   -2.04%
Milling Wheat May 2016   244.00   -4.00   -1.61%

Durum Wheat Dec 2015   315.00   -15.00   -4.55%
Durum Wheat Mar 2016   320.00   -15.00   -4.48%
Durum Wheat May 2016   330.00   -10.00   -2.94%

Barley Dec 2015   185.00   unch   0.00%
Barley Mar 2016   187.00   unch   0.00%
Barley May 2016   188.00   unch   0.00%

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

Chicago
Soybeans Nov 2015   877.75   -6   -0.68%
Soybeans Jan 2016   878.75   -7   -0.79%
Soybeans Mar 2016   881.5   -7.25   -0.82%
Soybeans May 2016   887   -7.5   -0.84%
Soybeans Jul 2016   892.25   -8   -0.89%
Soybeans Aug 2016   890.75   -7.5   -0.83%

Soybean Meal Dec 2015   302.2   -2.2   -0.72%
Soybean Meal Jan 2016   301.6   -1.5   -0.49%
Soybean Meal Mar 2016   300   -1.5   -0.50%

Soybean Oil Dec 2015 27.85 -0.35 -1.24%
Soybean Oil Jan 2016 28.15 -0.37 -1.30%

Soybean Oil Mar 2016 28.38 -0.37 -1.29%

Corn Dec 2015   376.5   -5.75   -1.50%
Corn Mar 2016   385.25   -6.25   -1.60%
Corn May 2016   391   -6.25   -1.57%
Corn Jul 2016   395.25   -6.25   -1.56%
Corn Sep 2016   395.5   -6   -1.49%

Oats Dec 2015   222.5   -4.75   -2.09%
Oats Mar 2016   223.5   -5.75   -2.51%
Oats May 2016   224.25   -6   -2.61%
Oats Jul 2016   227.25   -7.5   -3.19%
Oats Sep 2016   231.25   -4   -1.70%

Wheat Dec 2015   508   -14   -2.68%
Wheat Mar 2016   512   -13.5   -2.57%
Wheat May 2016   516   -13   -2.46%
Wheat Jul 2016   517   -13   -2.45%
Wheat Sep 2016   525   -13   -2.42%

Minneapolis
Spring Wheat Dec 2015   511.75   -12.5   -2.38%
Spring Wheat Mar 2016   521.5   -12.5   -2.34%
Spring Wheat May 2016   531   -12   -2.21%
Spring Wheat Jul 2016   541   -11.25   -2.04%
Spring Wheat Sep 2016   551.75   -10   -1.78%

Kansas City
Hard Red Wheat Dec 2015   482.75   -11   -2.23%
Hard Red Wheat Mar 2016   499   -11   -2.16%
Hard Red Wheat May 2016   509   -11   -2.12%
Hard Red Wheat Jul 2016   519.25   -10.75   -2.03%
Hard Red Wheat Sep 2016   532.5   -11   -2.02%