Canola futures halt decline with support from palm oil

By D’Arce McMillan

Saskatoon newsroom

Canola futures stabilized at a support level just below $450 per tonne on Thursday after a sharp sell off on Wedenesday.

Trade was light ahead of Friday’s USDA supply and demand reports. The canola contract has fallen to about $448 to $449 a few times in the past couple of months but each time has bounced back.

Analysts are still trying to assess the production impact of the flooding and saturated soils that followed the torrential rains of late June. Eastern Saskatchewan and western Manitoba were again under a severe thunderstorm watch on Thursday afternoon.

Read Also

U.S. grains: Corn, soybeans tick higher ahead of USDA report

Chicago | Reuters – Chicago corn and soybeans futures rose on Thursday as traders squared positions before a government crop…

The concerns for the crop have supported canola while soybeans have generally been falling on expectation of a bumper, record crop in the U.S.

November soybeans fell below $11 per bushel for the first time since Jan. 31.

Canola and soy oil also received modest support from palm oil.

The Malaysian Palm Oil Board reported that palm stocks in he country fell by 10 percent to 1.66 million tonnes at the end of June, their lowest since June 2013. The decline was more than expected. Dry weather is trimming palm production in the country.

Also the country’s exports for the first 10 days of July were up from the same point in June by a range of about 14 to 19 percent according to different cargo surveyors.

Wheat futures fell again on weekly U.S. exports that were less than expected. Also weakness in corn spilled over into wheat.

Global wheat supplies are expected to be plentiful and there will be strong competition for markets.

Corn fell for the eighth session on generally good weather in the U.S. Midwest. Prices are the lowest since August 2010. Investors appear to be building short positions on the expectation of the market continuing to fall.

Analysts expect the USDA on Friday will increase its estimate for U.S. corn production to 13.945 billion bushels from 13.935 billion in June. They expect the soybean crop to rise to 3.774 billion bu., up from 3.635 billion last month.

Winnipeg ICE Futures Canada dollars per tonne

Canola Jul 2014 468.50 +0.30 +0.06%

Canola Nov 2014 449.40 +0.30 +0.07%

Canola Jan 2015 452.10 +0.50 +0.11%

Canola Mar 2015 451.10 +0.60 +0.13%

Canola May 2015 449.00 +1.10 +0.25%

Milling Wheat Jul 2014 191.00 -2.00 -1.04%

Milling Wheat Oct 2014 192.00 -2.00 -1.03%

Milling Wheat Dec 2014 198.00 -2.00 -1.00%

Durum Wheat Jul 2014 239.00 unch 0.00%

Durum Wheat Oct 2014 250.00 +14.90 +6.34%

Durum Wheat Dec 2014 256.00 +14.90 +6.18%

Barley Jul 2014 125.00 unch 0.00%

Barley Oct 2014 132.50 unch 0.00%

Barley Dec 2014 134.50 unch 0.00%

American crop prices in cents US/bushel, soybean meal in $US/short ton, soy oil in cents US/pound

Chicago

Soybeans Jul 2014 1329.75 -4.75 -0.36%

Soybeans Aug 2014 1232.75 -13.75 -1.10%

Soybeans Sep 2014 1121.75 -10.25 -0.91%

Soybeans Nov 2014 1093 -10.75 -0.97%

Soybeans Jan 2015 1101.75 -10.25 -0.92%

Soybeans Mar 2015 1110.25 -9.5 -0.85%

Soybean Meal Jul 2014 434.3 -5.2 -1.18%

Soybean Meal Aug 2014 399.3 -6.8 -1.67%

Soybean Meal Sep 2014 370.6 -5.5 -1.46%

Soybean Oil Jul 2014 37.39 +0.35 +0.94%

Soybean Oil Aug 2014 37.48 +0.34 +0.92%

Soybean Oil Sep 2014 37.55 +0.34 +0.91%

Corn Jul 2014 400.5 -3.5 -0.87%

Corn Sep 2014 386.25 -5 -1.28%

Corn Dec 2014 392.75 -5.25 -1.32%

Corn Mar 2015 403.75 -5.75 -1.40%

Corn May 2015 411.75 -5.75 -1.38%

Oats Jul 2014 356.75 -1 -0.28%

Oats Sep 2014 336.75 -1 -0.30%

Oats Dec 2014 331.25 +1.5 +0.45%

Oats Mar 2015 322 +2.25 +0.70%

Oats May 2015 316.5 +6.75 +2.18%

Wheat Jul 2014 536.75 -2.75 -0.51%

Wheat Sep 2014 548.5 -2.75 -0.50%

Wheat Dec 2014 570.5 -4.5 -0.78%

Wheat Mar 2015 591.5 -6 -1.00%

Wheat May 2015 606 -7 -1.14%

Minneapolis

Spring Wheat Jul 2014 640 unch 0.00%

Spring Wheat Sep 2014 641 -6.25 -0.97%

Spring Wheat Dec 2014 652 -6 -0.91%

Spring Wheat Mar 2015 666.5 -6 -0.89%

Spring Wheat May 2015 675 -4.5 -0.66%

Kansas City

KC HRW Wheat Jul 2014 655.5 -5.25 -0.79%

KC HRW Wheat Sep 2014 647.25 -6 -0.92%

KC HRW Wheat Dec 2014 657.75 -6.25 -0.94%

KC HRW Wheat Mar 2015 665 -6.25 -0.93%

KC HRW Wheat May 2015 669.25 -5.5 -0.82%

Light crude oil nearby futures in New York rose 64 cents at $102.93 US per barrel.

The Canadian dollar at noon was 93.83 cents US, down from 93.90 cents the previous trading day. The U.S. dollar at noon was $1.0658 Cdn.

Troubles at a Portuguese bank spread worries through Europe’s stock and bond markets and that carried through to North American markets.

North American indexes have set all time record highs and there has been an expectation that a market correction will hit at some point.

The news from Portugal overshadowed weekly data for new U.S. unemployment benefits. They fell last week to one of the lowest levels since before the 2007-09 recession, a sign of increasing health in the labour market.

In unofficial tallies —

The Toronto Stock Exchange composite fell 100.71 points or 0.66 percent to 15,114.48.

The Dow was down 70.54 points or 0.42 percent at 16,915.07.

The S&P 500 was down 8.15 points or 0.14 percent at 11,964.68.

The Nasdaq was down 22.83 points or 0.52 percent at 4,396.20.