Canola closed a little higher on Friday, with currency moves the main driver, but also with support from good demand.
Generally, there was little price movement in crop markets during the day, but uncertainty about Greece following through on new austerity measures caused traders to buy U.S. dollars and sell commodities. The loonie fell below par.
March canola closed at $535.30 per tonne, up $1.10. November closed at $516.80, up 10 cents.
Over the week, the March contract gained $9.80.
• Canola was supported by talk of new export business. Also, there are concerns about the dryness of the winter.
The canola council had this to say in a note Thursday: “Consider soil moisture reserves when setting yield targets and fertilizer rates for 2012. A lot can change between now and seeding, and growers have “never lost a crop in February,” but if moisture does not improve, yield potential should be reassessed when setting targets and budgets.”
• Soybeans spent most of the day down but rallied late to close slightly higher. The late rise was attributed to various factors include a forecast for two dry weeks in southern Brazil, traders buying soybeans against corn on intermarket spreads, and talk of Brazil increasing its biodiesel mandate later this year.
• The Canadian Oilseed Processors Association said members crushed 159,652 tonnes in the week ending Feb. 8. That was an increase of about 24 percent from the week before, but the reason was that another crush plant has joined COPA’s reporting group.
The new participant is Bunge ETGO, a joint venture of Bunge North America and Twin Rivers Technologies Enterprises de Transformation de Graines Oleagineuses du Quebec Inc., a subsidiary of Felda Global Ventures Holdings Sdn Bhd of Malaysia. The joint venture covers Bunge’s Hamilton, Ont. plant and TRT-ETGO’s plant in Becancour, Que.
• Wheat fell on lingering pressure from Thursday’s USDA report that increased the forecast for global wheat ending stocks by about 1.5 percent from last month. At 216.1 million tonnes, year end stocks will be the largest ever. However, the stocks-to-use ratio, although up from recent years, is not as burdensome as in the early 2000s because global use is much higher today.
• There were street protests in Greece over a new austerity plan that includes lowering the minimum wage by 22 percent, axing 150,000 public sector jobs and reducing pensions.
Winnipeg (per tonne)
Canola Mar 12 $535.30, up $1.10 (+0.21%)
Canola May 12 $537.90, up $0.40 (+0.07%)
Canola Jul 12 $540.30, up $0.30 (+0.06%)
Canola Nov 12 $516.80, up $0.10 (+0.02%)
The previous trading day’s best basis was 5.27 per tonne off the March contract, said the ICE Futures Canada exchange in Winnipeg.
The 14-day relative strength index was 63.
Western Barley Mar 12 $212.00, unchanged
Western Barley May 12 $217.00, up 1.00 (+0.46%)
Milling Wht Oct 12 $259.80, down 3.10 (-1.18%)
Milling Wht Dec 12 $264.50, down 2.90 (-1.08%)
Milling Wht Mar 13 $269.50, down 2.90 (-1.06%)
Durum Wht Oct 12 $269.00, unchanged
Durum Wht Dec 12 $273.50, unchanged
Durum Wht Mar 13 $278.50, unchanged
Barley Oct 12 $180.00, unchanged
Barley Dec 12 $184.00, unchanged
Barley Mar 13 $185.50, unchanged
Chicago (per bushel)
Soybeans Mar 12 $12.29, up 1.5 cents (+0.12%)
Soybeans May 12 $12.375, up 1.5 (+0.12%)
Soybeans Nov 12 $12.395, up 1.0 (+0.08%)
Corn Mar 12 $6.3175, down 5.25 (-0.82%)
Corn May 12 $6.355, down 6.0 (-0.94%)
Corn Dec 12 $5.5975, down 8.25 (-1.45%)
Oats Mar 12 $3.18, unchanged
Oats May 12 $3.095, unchanged
Oats Dec 12 $3.15, unchanged
Minneapolis (per bushel)
Spring Wht Mar 12 $8.1425, down 17.5 cents (-2.10%)
Spring Wht May 12 $8.03, down 17.25 (-2.10%)
Spring Wht Dec 12 $7.6675, down 18.75 (-2.39%)
Nearby light crude oil in New York settled at $98.67 a barrel, down $1.17.
The Canadian dollar at noon fell below par at 99.84 cents US, down from $1.0059 the previous trading day. The U.S. dollar at noon was $1.0016 cents Cdn.
The Toronto Stock Exchange composite unofficially closed down 108.52 points, or 0.87 percent, at 12,389.42.
In an early tally, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 89.31 points, or 0.69 percent, at 12,801.15. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index was down 9.33 points, or 0.69 percent, at 1,342.62. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 23.35 points, or 0.80 percent, at 2,903.88.
For the week, the TSX composite fell 1.5 percent, the Dow was down 0.5 percent, S&P fell 0.2 percent and the Nasdaq dropped 0.06 percent.
