Worries that there will be further downgrades to South America’s soybean crop sparked a late session surge in canola and soybean prices Friday.
Early strength came mostly from good weekly exports of U.S. soybeans and confirmation of another sale to China.
On Thursday Argentina reduced its estimate of the size of its soybean crop to 42.9 million tonnes. That raised talk that USDA will be forced to further reduce its forecast for Argentina’s crop. The April 10 report pegged it at 45 million tonnes.
May canola closed at $619.60 per tonne, up $4.80.
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Prairie Wheat Weekly Spring wheat prices decline
Western Canadian spring wheat prices were mostly lower, while those for durum were relatively steady during the week ended Aug. 14, 2025.
November closed at $575.50, up $4.80.
For the week, the May contract fell $3.70 and the November contract fell $3.30.
Parts of Saskatchewan are getting light rain today. Although southern areas have already started, seeding will likely start in earnest across a wide area next week.
• Stock markets also traded higher today on good quarterly profit reports and a stronger than expected reading of German business confidence.
Eighty-one percent of 121 companies that make up a part of the S&P 500 that have issued quarterly reports this week, reported better than expected profits.
• Reuters today reported on its poll of traders asking them their expectations of Western Canadian seeded acreage. The poll comes a few days before the April 24 StatsCan seeding intentions report.
The range of forecasts for canola in the Reuters poll was 19.9 million to 21.6 million with an average of 20.6. That is up from last year’s 18.9 million. Agriculture Canada’s estimate for this spring is 20.4 million acres.
The range of traders’ guess for wheat is 22.3 to 24 million with an average of 23.4 million, up from last year’s 21.5 million.
Durum is seen at an average 4.5 million, equal to the AgCanada estimate and up from four million last year.
There is a wide range in the oats forecasts, going from 2.8 to four million with an average of 3.4 million. That compares to AgCanada’s outlook of four million and last year’s 3.1 million.
Barley ranges from 7.1 to 8.6 million acres for an average of 7.7 million, down a little from AgCanada’s 7.9 million but up from last year’s 6.5 million.
Peas range from 2.7 to 3.5 million for an average of 3.1 million. AgCanada said three million and last year farmers seeded 2.3 million.
In the Reuters survey, flax ranges from 600,000 to 1.15 million acres for an average of 925,000. AgCanada sees 766,000 and last year there were 695,000 acres.
• The Canadian Oilseed Processors Association said members crushed 141,773 tonnes of the canola in the week ending April 18. That was down about five percent from the week before and represented a crush capacity of about 85 percent.
• Chicago corn was down on lack of confirmation of a rumoured sale to China. That pressured wheat down as did improving moisture levels in the hard red winter wheat region.
• Seeding has just begun in Australia. National Australia Bank forecast the wheat crop at 26.1 million tonnes, down about 12 percent from last year’s record but still well above normal.
Its outlook is larger than the government’s and other forecasters. It is based on excellent soil moisture in eastern grain areas.
• Speculators increased their net long position in soybeans this week but scaled back their net long position in corn. When speculators are long they are betting on higher prices and when they are short they foresee lower prices.
Winnipeg (per tonne)
Canola May 12 $622.20, up $7.40 +1.20%
Canola Jul 12 $616.20, up $8.50 +1.40%
Canola Nov 12 $576.50, up $5.80 +1.02%
Canola Jan 13 $$581.00, up $6.00 +1.04%
The basis was not available.
The 14-day relative strength index was 63.
Western Barley May 12 $235.00, unchanged
Western Barley Jul 12 $235.00, unchanged
Milling Wht Oct 12 $257.00, down $1.00 -0.39%
Milling Wht Dec 12 $262.00, down $1.00 -0.38%
Milling Wht Mar 13 $272.00, down $1.00 -0.36%
Durum Wht Oct 12 $277.50, unchanged
Durum Wht Dec 12 $282.00, unchanged
Durum Wht Mar 13 $288.60, unchanged
Barley Oct 12 $186.50, unchanged
Barley Dec 12 $190.00, unchanged
Barley Mar 13 $191.50, unchanged
Chicago (per bushel)
Soybeans May 12 $14.4675, up 31.0 cents +2.19%
Soybeans Jul 12 $14.495, up 28.5 +2.01%
Soybeans Nov 12 $13.56, up 13.5 +1.01%
Corn May 12 $6.125, down 8.5 -1.37%
Corn Jul 12 $6.03, down 9.0 -1.47%
Corn Dec 12 $5.3675, down 5.0 -0.92%
Oats May 12 $3.2225, down 0.5 -0.15%
Oats Jul 12 $3.2425, down 1.5 -0.54%
Oats Dec 12 $3.34, down 1.5 -0.45%
Minneapolis (per bushel)
Spring Wht May 12 $7.91, down 18.25 cents -2.26%
Spring Wht Jul 12 $7.9425, down 17.75 -2.19%
Spring Wht Sep 12 $7.8775, down 14.25 $-1.78%
Spring Wht Dec 12 $7.86, down 13.5 -1.69%
The nearby New York light sweet crude contract fell 40 cents to $102.27 US.
The Canadian dollar at noon was $1.0090 US, up from $1.0074 the previous trading day. The U.S. dollar at noon was 99.11 Cdn.
In unofficial early tallies:
The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index closed down 6.41 points, or 0.05 percent, at 12,147.28.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 74.28 points, or 0.57 percent, to close at 13,038.38.
The S&P 500 Index rose 2.82 points, or 0.20 percent, to 1,379.74.
The Nasdaq Composite was down 6.03 points, or 0.20 percent, at 3,001.53
For the week, the TSX composite rose 0.9 percent, the Dow was up 1.4 percent, the S&P 500 rose 0.6 percent and the Nasdaq was down 0.4 percent.
