Canola edged higher on Friday but other crop futures fell as the U.S. dollar rose against most major currencies.
Canola bounced back from the low on Thursday when U.S. markets were closed. Traders thought canola had fallen too far compared to soybeans. Prices, now at a 13-month low, attracted some exporter buying and short covering.
January canola closed at $503.20 per tonne, up $3.40 on the day.
For the week, the contract was down $15.50 or almost three percent.
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In the same period, soybeans were down 5.3 percent.
• The Canadian Oilseed Processors Association reported members crushed 132.105 tonnes of canola in the week ending Nov. 23, up almost one percent from the week before. That represents a strong capacity use of about 90 percent.
• Worried investors are parking their money in relatively safe U.S. treasury bonds and that is driving the value of the U.S. buck higher.
The stronger dollar makes U.S. grains less attractive for foreign buyers, partly offsetting the attractions of the lower prices.
U.S. export sales of corn last week were again disappointing at 350,000 tonnes, below expectations for 400,000 to 600,000 tonnes.
However wheat and soybeans faired better.
USDA reported export sales of all varieties of U.S. wheat in the latest week at 614,500 tonnes, the most in nine weeks and above trader estimates of 300,000 to 450,000 tonnes.
Soybeans sales were 921,600 tonnes, above trade estimates for 500,000-750,000 tonnes.
• Ukraine had a record harvest this year. Its wheat and corn are being pushed into the world market at low prices, helping to deflate global grain prices.
The government today said its overall harvest was 56 million tonnes, up from the previous record of 53 million. Its wheat crop was 22.3 million tonnes, up from 16.9 million last year. The corn crop was 20.4 million tonnes, up from 4.6 million last year. Barley was 9.1 million, up from 8.5 million last year.
Things look less good for the 2012 crop. Of the eight million hectares seeded with winter grains, two million have not sprouted. Of the crop that has sprouted, about a third in poor shape due to dry weather.
Winnipeg (per tonne)
Canola Jan 12 $503.20, up $3.40 (+0.68%)
Canola Mar 12 $503.70, up $3.20 (+0.64%)
Canola May 12 $503.70, up $3.20 (+0.64%)
Canola Jul 12 $505.50, up $1.80 (+0.36%)
The previous day’s best basis was $8 under the January contract.
The January contract’s 14-day Relative Strength Index was 32.
Western Barley Dec 11 $217.00, unchanged
Chicago (per bushel)
Soybeans Jan 12 $11.065, down 16.0 cents (-1.43%)
Soybeans Mar 12 $11.1575, down 15.75 (-1.39%)
Soybeans May 12 $11.245, down 15.75 (-1.38%)
Corn Dec 11 $5.825, down 6.25 (-1.06%)
Corn Mar 12 $5.90, down 5.5 (-0.92%)
Oats Dec 11 $2.92, down 0.5 (-0.17%)
Oats Mar 12 $2.87, unchanged
Minneapolis (per bushel)
Spring Wheat Dec 11 $8.2725, down 8.5 cents (-1.02%)
Spring Wheat Mar 12 $8.075, down 9.0 (-1.10%)
Spring Wheat May 12 $7.8875, down 4.75 (-0.60%)
Light crude oil nearby futures in New York rose 60 cents to $66.77 US per barrel. The price listed in Thursday’s report was incorrect.
The Canadian dollar at noon was 95.36 cents US, down from 95.52 the previous trading day. The U.S. dollar at noon was $1.0487 Cdn.
The Toronto Stock Exchange composite unofficially finished down 23.26 points, or 0.2 percent, at 11,462.06.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index was down 3.12 points, or 0.3 percent, at 1,156.67.
For the week, the Toronto composite fell 3.6 percent, the Dow fell 4.8 percent, the S&P 500 fell 4.7 percent and the Nasdaq fell 5.1 percent.
