Canola futures fell Friday, weakened by U.S. soybean export problems and expectations of a good South American soybean crop.
January canola closed at $575.70, down $4.80, or 0.83 percent.
March canola closed at $573.30, down $5.20 or 0.90 percent.
January soybeans fell 1.34 percent at $13.8325 US per bushel.
For the week, the January canola contract fell $15.70.
Analysts are wondering if the market is starting to post seasonal lows. One of the most bullish opinions came from Dan Basse, president of agricultural analyst AgResource. Earlier this week told news services that he thinks a rally in the period leading up to U.S. seeding could push corn up to $9 per bushel.
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Lentil prices on the Canadian Prairies eased back during the week ended July 28, said Levon Sargsyan, broker with Johnston’s Grain. Sargsyan noted that’s due to the recent rains that brought relief to some of the dry areas of the region.
• Soybeans today were hurt when Chinese buyers cancelled orders for 600,000 tonnes of U.S. soybeans.
The sharp drop in prices could encourage more cancellations.
The cancellations overshadowed a weekly report on soybean export sales. The U.S. last week sold 585,200 tonnes, a two-week high that topped estimates for 250,000 tonnes to 550,000 tonnes.
• Corn rallied into positive territory after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said there was no need to alter the renewable fuel standard on corn ethanol. It said the mandate had little, is any, effect on the corn price.
U.S. corn export sales were a six-week high of 312,000 tonnes, within estimates for 200,000 tonnes to 400,000 tonnes, and wheat export sales were a two-week high of 314,500 tonnes, within estimates for 250,000 tonnes to 450,000 tonnes.
• While canola has been falling along with soybeans and grains generally, the losses are mitigated by strong crusher demand.
The Canadian Oilseed Processors Association said members crushed 154,077 tonnes in the week ending Nov. 14, up almost five percent from the week before. That represented a strong crush capacity of almost 93 percent.
The crush pace is running 15 percent ahead of last year.
• The U.S. drought has lowered the flow in the Missouri and Mississippi rivers. The Corps of Engineers plans to reduce flow from a Missouri reservoir and that will lower levels in the Mississippi. The U.S. Coast Guard said today it expects vessels will have to reduce draft, but river traffic closures are not expected. If they did, it would severely hurt grain transportation to the Gulf of Mexico.
The low levels on the Mississippi have sharply increased river transportation costs.
Winnipeg (per tonne)
Canola Jan 13 $575.70, down $4.80 -0.83%
Canola Mar 13 $573.30, down $5.20 -0.90%
Canola May 13 $571.60, down $5.30 -0.92%
Canola Jul 13 $568.30, down $5.40 -0.94%
Milling Wheat Dec 12 $303.50, down $3.50 -1.14%
Milling Wheat Mar 13 $313.00, down $3.50 -1.11%
Milling Wheat May 13 $316.00, down $3.50 -1.10%
Durum Wheat Dec 12 $312.40, unchanged
Durum Wheat Mar 13 $319.00, unchanged
Durum Wheat May 13 $323.00, unchanged
Barley Dec 12 $250.00, unchanged
Barley Mar 13 $253.00, unchanged
Barley May 13 $254.00, unchanged
Chicago (per bushel)
Soybeans (P) Jan 13 $13.8325, down 18.75 (-1.34%)
Soybeans (P) Mar 13 13.68, down 16.0 (-1.16%)
Soybeans (P) May 13 $13.515, down 10.75 -0.79%
Soybeans (P) Jul 13 $13.435, down 11.0 -0.81%
Corn (P) Dec 12 $7.27, up 5.75 +0.80%
Corn (P) Mar 13 $7.31, up 6.0 +0.83%
Corn (P) May 13 $7.2675, up 6.5 +0.90%
Oats (P) Dec 12 $3.645, unchanged
Oats (P) Mar 13 $3.745, up 0.5 +0.13%
Oats (P) May 13 $3.7725, up 2.0 +0.53%
Minneapolis (per bushel)
Spring Wheat Dec 12 $9.0975, down 10.5 -1.14%
Spring Wheat Mar 13 $9.21, down 9.75 -1.05%
Spring Wheat May 13 $9.2675, down 11.0 -1.17%
Spring Wheat Jul 13 $9.2775, down 10.25 -1.09%
The Bank of Canada noon rate for the loonie drifted lower again, hitting 99.72 cents US, down from 99.75 the day before.
The U.S. buck was $1.0028 Cdn.
Nearby light crude rose $1.22 to $86.67 per barrel.
A preliminary meeting between U.S. president Barack Obama and Congressional leaders showed indications of willingness to be flexible. The meeting was little more than a photo op, but markets took hope that the politicians might be able to agree on ways to address the fiscal cliff.
In early tallies:
The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index rose 66.34 points, or 0.56 percent, to close at 11,877.72. For the week, it lost 2.6 percent, its sharpest weekly decline since May.
The Dow Jones industrial average today added 45.93 points, or 0.37 percent, to 12,588.31.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose 6.55 points, or 0.48 percent, to 1,359.88.
The Nasdaq Composite Indexclimbed 16.19 points, or 0.57 percent, to 2,853.13.
For the week, the Dow lost 1.8 percent, the S&P was down 1.5 percent, and the Nasdaq fell 1.8 percent.
