Canola futures edged higher Tuesday for a fifth straight session, supported by crusher buying and slowing farmer sales, traders said.
Rain in areas across the Prairies is stalling harvest. There was snow northwest of Edmonton.
Canola’s mild strength today did not come from soybeans, which ended the day a little lower.
STATISTICS CANADA
There was also bearish news from Statistics Canada.
A StatsCan report based in part on satellite and climate data put Canada’s 2017 canola crop at 19.7 million tonnes, or 1.5 million tonnes more than the government’s Aug. 31 estimate of 18.2 million tonnes, based on a farmer survey.
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Alberta crop conditions improve: report
Varied precipitation and warm temperatures were generally beneficial for crop development across Alberta during the week ended July 8, according to the latest provincial crop report released July 11.
The all-wheat crop was pegged at 27.1 million tonnes, up from 25.5 million in the August farmer survey.
Durum production is forecast at 4.3 million tonnes, up from 3.9 million tonnes in August.
Barley production is seen at 7.3 million tonnes, up from 7.2 million in August.
Oats were pegged at 3.8 million, up from 3.7 million.
Peas now are at 3.86 million, up from 3.779 million in August.
Lentils are at 2.44 million, up from 2.29 million last month.
EXPORTS
Pakistani importers bought about 65,000 tonnes of canola from Canada in a recent deal, European traders told Reuters.
The loonie rose a little, shrugging off weaker-than-expected domestic manufacturing data as oil prices rose and the U.S. greenback broadly fell.
US MARKETS
Chicago corn futures fell nearly one percent on chart-based selling as the harvest of a large U.S. crop loomed, traders told Reuters.
Soybeans followed the weak trend, declining in the absence of fresh supportive news, and wheat closed mixed, with front-month December fractionally lower.
“The biggest thing is, there isn’t anything here for the bull. The path of least resistance is back to the downside,” said Terry Linn, analyst with Linn & Associates.
Corn and wheat retreated from early advances as traders awaited reports from the expanding U.S. corn harvest.
The crop was seven percent harvested by Sunday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said in a weekly report.
“I don’t know that we are getting a lot of pressure from the standpoint of producers making sales, but we are seeing ideas this crop is bigger than expected, especially in corn,” said Brian Hoops, analyst with Midwest Market Solutions.
The USDA said 34 percent of the corn crop was mature, well behind the five-year average of 47 percent. But forecasts showed no major weather problems that could threaten late-maturing fields.
“The weather is good for crops that haven’t shut down. You’ve got favourable finishing conditions,” Linn said.
Soybean futures fell to session lows after the USDA, for the first time in eight business days, failed to report fresh sales of U.S. soybeans through its daily export reporting system. Also bearish was the inability of the November soy contract to break through chart resistance and test its 200-day moving average near $9.79.
Plentiful global supplies kept a lid on the wheat market, despite worries about dry conditions in Australia and excessive rain in Argentina.
Futures had little reaction to news that Egypt’s state grain buyer purchased 175,000 tonnes of Russian wheat in a tender. No U.S. wheat was offered.
Egypt received offers from six suppliers, down from the roughly 15 that normally bid to the world’s largest wheat buyer, as traders held back due to a dispute over two blocked import cargoes.
OUTSIDE MARKETS
Light crude oil nearby futures in New York were down 43 cents at US$49.48 per barrel.
In the afternoon, the Canadian dollar was trading around US81.46 cents, up from 81.30 cents the previous trading day. The U.S. dollar was C$1.2276.
Winnipeg ICE Futures Canada dollars per tonne
Canola Nov 17 492.10s +2.20 +0.45%
Canola Jan 18 498.80s +2.10 +0.42%
Canola Mar 18 504.50s +1.90 +0.38%
Canola May 18 508.50s +1.70 +0.34%
Canola Jul 18 510.50s +1.80 +0.35%
Milling Wheat Oct 17 221.00s unch unch
Milling Wheat Dec 17 223.00s unch unch
Milling Wheat Mar 18 230.00s unch unch
Durum Wheat Oct 17 279.00s unch unch
Durum Wheat Dec 17 283.00s unch unch
Durum Wheat Mar 18 286.00s unch unch
Barley Oct 17 145.00s unch unch
Barley Dec 17 148.00s unch unch
Barley Mar 18 151.00s unch unch
American crop prices in cents US/bushel, soybean meal in $US/short ton, soy oil in cents US/pound. Prices are displayed with fractions (2/8, 4/8, and 6/8) instead of decimals. -2 equals .25, -4 equals .50, -6 equals .75. The “s” means it is the settlement.
Chicago
Soybeans Nov 17 965-4s -2-2 -0.23%
Soybeans Jan 18 976-0s -2-0 -0.20%
Soybeans Mar 18 985-2s -1-6 -0.18%
Soybeans May 18 993-4s -1-6 -0.18%
Soybeans Jul 18 1000-2s -1-6 -0.17%
Soybean Meal Oct 17 305.0s -4.0 -1.29%
Soybean Meal Dec 17 308.7s -3.9 -1.25%
Soybean Meal Jan 18 310.6s -3.7 -1.18%
Soybean Oil Oct 17 34.52s +0.33 +0.97%
Soybean Oil Dec 17 34.76s +0.33 +0.96%
Soybean Oil Jan 18 34.92s +0.33 +0.95%
Corn Dec 17 348-2s -3-2 -0.92%
Corn Mar 18 360-6s -3-2 -0.89%
Corn May 18 369-2s -3-2 -0.87%
Corn Jul 18 376-2s -3-0 -0.79%
Corn Sep 18 382-4s -3-0 -0.78%
Oats Dec 17 240-2s +0-4 +0.21%
Oats Mar 18 247-6s +2-0 +0.81%
Oats May 18 247-2s +2-4 +1.02%
Oats Jul 18 245-0s +1-4 +0.62%
Oats Sep 18 245-0s +1-4 +0.62%
Wheat Dec 17 443-0s -0-4 -0.11%
Wheat Mar 18 464-0s +0-2 +0.05%
Wheat May 18 478-0s +1-0 +0.21%
Wheat Jul 18 489-2s +1-0 +0.20%
Wheat Sep 18 503-4s +1-2 +0.25%
Minneapolis
Spring Wheat Dec 17 617-2s -5-0 -0.80%
Spring Wheat Mar 18 631-0s -5-0 -0.79%
Spring Wheat May 18 636-2s -4-0 -0.62%
Spring Wheat Jul 18 635-0s -4-0 -0.63%
Spring Wheat Sep 18 628-2s -0-6 -0.12%
Kansas City
Hard Red Wheat Dec 17 442-0s -0-2 -0.06%
Hard Red Wheat Mar 18 459-6s unch unch
Hard Red Wheat May 18 472-6s +0-2 +0.05%
Hard Red Wheat Jul 18 489-4s +0-4 +0.10%
Hard Red Wheat Sep 18 508-0s +0-6 +0.15%
Chicago livestock futures in US¢/pound, Pit trade
Live Cattle Oct 17 107.975s +0.400 +0.37%
Live Cattle Dec 17 113.400s +0.450 +0.40%
Live Cattle Feb 18 117.175s +0.675 +0.58%
Feeder Cattle Sep 17 151.575s +0.775 +0.51%
Feeder Cattle Oct 17 152.800s +0.850 +0.56%
Feeder Cattle Nov 17 153.125s +0.925 +0.61%
Lean Hogs Oct 17 60.125s +0.125 +0.21%
Lean Hogs Dec 17 59.725s +1.675 +2.89%
Lean Hogs Feb 18 64.375s +0.725 +1.14%
