China acted on its intention to curtail inflation on Friday, causing commodities, including canola, to retreat.
Canola dropped 1.9 percent on the day.
It was a volatile week with markets swinging daily as investors reacted to China’s anti-inflation plans and worries about Ireland’s debt.
In the end, canola futures dropped less than one percent on the week. They did better than soybeans, which fell 5.4 percent.
Worries about China also weakened corn, as did news that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency would delay for a month its decision on raising the amount of ethanol that can be blended in fuel.
There is no rain in the forecast for the dry U.S. hard red winter wheat belt.
Rain that has hampered the wheat crop in eastern Australia has stopped.
It is dry in parts of Argentina’s soybean growing region. Brazil’s moisture is generally adequate but a dry spell is forecast for southern regions.
The Canadian Oilseed Processors Association reported that 125,040 tonnes of canola were crushed in the week ending Nov. 17, up 0.6 percent from the week before.
That represented an 86.1 percent capacity use rate.
Canadian agriculture minister Gerry Ritz said Friday he doubts China’s anti-inflation policy will hurt Canada’s food exports to the Asian giant.
China’s central bank on Friday ordered commercial lenders to set aside larger reserves in order to fight inflation. That put downward pressure on all commodities.
In Winnipeg, the January canola contract fell $10.10 to $528.80 per tonne on 11,739 trades.
The March contract fell $9.90 to $535.20 on 4,349 trades.
The November 2011 contract rose $8.80 to $491.50.
The previous day’s best basis was $27.13 under the January contract.
The January contract RSI was 49. The rule of thumb is an RSI of 30 indicates an over sold market and 70 indicates an over bought market.
December barley futures fell 10 cents to $180 per tonne on 33 trades. March was unchanged at $185. There is no open interest in the March contract.
Chicago January soybeans fell 40.5 cents to $12.015 US per bushel. March fell 40.25 cents to $12.09.
December corn fell 21 cents to $5.2075 per bu.
December oats fell 2.25 cents to $3.5325 per bu. March oats fell two cents to $3.66.
In New York, crude oil for January delivery fell 44 cents to $81.98 US per barrel, down almost four percent on the week.
The Canadian dollar at noon was 97.96 cents US, down from 98.29 cents the previous trading day. The U.S. dollar at noon was $1.0208.
The TSX composite index rose 86.32 points to close at 12,956.33. The S&P 500 rose 2.97 points to close at 1,199.66.
For the week, the Dow was up about 0.1 percent, the S&P 500 was up 0.04 percent and the Nasdaq was steady.
