Winnipeg canola futures rose Sept. 25 thanks to a weakening Canadian dollar and talk that China bought one or two shipments this week.
November canola rose 20 cents to end at $386.60 per tonne.
January also climbed 20 cents to settle at $391.60.
The loonie dropped about 0.4 cents US from the day before. The falling stock market and weakness in several commodities this week has risk-adverse investors transferring money into the perceived safety of U.S. dollar investments, lifting the American buck.
Soybeans and soy oil rebounded slightly from yesterday’s losses. Rain delayed the start of early harvest in the U.S. Midwest.
Crude oil edged higher today on tension over Iran’s nuclear program after falling sharply the previous two days on higher than expected U.S. crude and fuel storage inventories that indicated the recession might be hanging on longer than expected.
Canola rose despite downward pressure from rapid harvest progress.
Statistics Canada is expected to release its updated production estimate on Oct. 2. Many analysts and traders expect the canola crop will be revised upward by one million tonnes or more from the last report that pegged the crop at 9.5 million tonnes.
Environment Canada is still forecasting frost in Alberta on Monday morning, but it has dropped the frost warning in most of Saskatchewan.
The Canadian Oilseed Processors Association reported that 64,014 tonnes of canola were crushed in the week ending Sept. 23. That was down from the week before when 65,936 tonnes were crushed.
To date 556,194 tonnes have been crushed, down 0.5 percent from the same time last year.
Crush should soon start to outpace last year because Cargill’s expansion at Clavet, Sask., is operating and the Louis Dreyfus-Mitsui plant at Yorkton is expected to begin start up in November.
Reuters News Service reported that European Union grain trade lobby Coceral sharply raised its outlook for the bloc’s rapeseed crop this year, putting it at 20.55 million tonnes versus 18.28 million previously and 19.02 million in 2008. The hike was mainly to higher yields.
