Canola futures bounced back on Friday, supported by stronger soybeans and crude oil and feelings that Thursday’s slump was overdone.
May canola closed at $598.50 per tonne, up $9.90.
November closed at $559.10, up $10.
For the week, the May contract was down $1.30 and November fell $1.70.
Thursday’s price drop encouraged some end user buying.
Canola values are also supported by strong domestic and export demand, expectations of tight year end stocks, dry conditions in large parts of the Prairies, the drought-reduced South American soybean crop. Canola also benefits from the desire in the United States to encourage adequate soybean acreage in the face of strong corn prices and the prospect of early seeding, which normally supports corn sowing.
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Limiting gains are expectations of a record large canola seeded acreage this spring.
• The Canadian Oilseed Processors Association said members crushed 148,278 tonnes of canola in the week ending March 21. That was down 1.3 percent from the week before and represented a capacity use of about 89 percent, slightly below the average to date.
• A number of market participants believe USDA has not yet fully accounted for drought damage to South American crops. Argentina’s government yesterday projected its soy crop at 44 million tonnes, below USDA’s latest forecast for 46.5 million. Earlier this week, oilseeds analyst Oil World cut estimates for soy crops in Brazil and Argentina by a combined two million tonnes.
• Dryness in Western Europe continue to support grain and oilseed markets.
Winnipeg (per tonne)
Canola May 12 $598.50, up $9.90 +1.68%
Canola Jul 12 $596.80, up $9.90 +1.69%
Canola Nov 12 $559.10, up $10.00 +1.82%
Canola Jan 13 $563.10, up $10.10 +1.83%
The previous day’s best canola basis was 60 cents over the May contract, according to ICE Futures Canada in Winnipeg.
Western Barley May 12 $224.00, unchanged
Western Barley Jul 12 $227.00, unchanged
Milling Wheat Oct 12 $259.60, unchanged
Milling Wheat Dec 12 $264.60, unchanged
Milling Wheat Mar 13 $269.60, unchanged
Durum Wheat Oct 12 $270.00, unchanged
Durum Wheat Dec 12 $274.50, unchanged
Durum Wheat Mar 13 $281.10, unchanged
Barley Oct 12 $185.00, unchanged
Barley Dec 12 $188.50, unchanged
Barley Mar 13 $190.00, unchanged
Chicago (per bushel)
Soybeans May 12 $13.6575, up 16.25 cents +1.20%
Soybeans Jul 12 $13.7175, up 15.0 +1.11%
Soybeans Nov 12 $13.225, up 10.75 +0.82%
Corn May 12 $6.465, up 2.0 +0.31%
Corn Jul 12 $6.445, up 1.75 +0.27%
Corn Dec 12 $5.575, up 1.75 +0.31%
Oats May 12 $3.33, up 4.75 +1.45%
Oats Jul 12 $3.27, up 5.25 +1.63%
Oats Dec 12 $3.325, up 8.75 +2.70%
Minneapolis (per bushel)
Spring Wheat May 12 $8.1725, up 10.25 cents +1.27%
Spring Wheat Jul 12 $8.115, up 9.75 +1.22%
Spring Wheat Sep 12 $7.95, up 9.5 +1.21%
Spring Wheat Dec 12 $7.985, up 10.5 +1.33%
The nearby New York light sweet crude contract rose $1.52 to $106.87. Support came from new that Iran’s crude oil output fell significantly in February as tensions flared over that country’s nuclear program.
The Canadian dollar at noon was $1.0018 US, up from 99.97 cents the previous trading day. The U.S. dollar at noon was 0.9982 Cdn.
U.S. new single-family home sales declined in February.
In preliminary tallies:
The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX closed up 103.85 points, or 0.84 percent, at 12,465.66. The Dow Jones industrial average climbed 34.59 points, or 0.27 percent, to close at 13,080.73. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose 4.33 points, or 0.31 percent, to 1,397.11. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 4.60 points, or 0.15 percent, to 3,067.92.
For the week, the TSX dipped 0.3 percent, the Dow was down 1.1 percent, the S&P 500 fell 0.5 percent and the Nasdaq was up 0.4 percent.