Winnipeg canola futures jumped higher on Tuesday, catching up with the previous day’s gains in U.S. soybeans.
However, a big rise in the Canadian dollar partly offset the market’s strength.
The snowy, cold weekend in Canada and the U.S. Midwest delayed harvest and damaged crop still in the field.
The U.S. Midwest harvest will be further disrupted this week because 80 percent of the corn belt is expected to receive rain.
As of Oct. 11, 23 percent of U.S. soybeans had been harvested, up from 15 percent the week before but down from the five year average of 57 percent.
The Canadian prairie harvest is more advanced, but a significant amount of canola was still in the swath when snow and rain fell, especially in northern Saskatchewan.
More moisture is expected Wednesday on the Prairies, but the temperature will rise and the sun will shine as the weekend approaches.
November canola settled at $388.40 per tonne, up $6.10 from Friday, on volume of 8,313 contracts.
January closed up $5 to settle at $392.30 with a volume of 5,454 contracts.
At noon, one loonie was worth 97.1 cents US, up from 95.9 cents on Friday. The U.S. dollar was at $1.0298 Cdn on Tuesday, down from $1.0424 on Friday.
Investors are starting to believe that countries other than the United States will lead the economic recovery. As economies improve in other countries, they might start to ease the low interest rate policy that was designed to stimulate spending. If interest rates are higher elsewhere, money will flow out of low-yield U.S. dollar investments.
November barley closed at $150.50 per tonne, down 50 cents and January closed at $156.10, down 90 cents.
