The canola rally that began in mid February came to an abrupt end this week with heavy sell offs on Thursday and Friday .
The market was weighed down on concerns about a potential CN rail strike and on talk that China might have canceled orders.
May canola ended the week at $440.50 per tonne, down 4.5 percent on the week.
Conductors, yard workers and traffic co-ordinators represented by Teamsters Canada Rail Conference voted by a narrow margin against a tentative agreement that union officials had made with the company last month.
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U.S. grains: Soybean futures inch higher on China trade optimism
U.S. soybean futures firmed on Wednesday as traders remained hopeful for progress in trade talks with top soy buyer China and on a Japanese proposal to increase U.S. soy purchases, deals that could help U.S. farmers avert major losses.
This is the second proposal that the membership rejected.
On Friday federal labour minister Kellie Leitch urged the company and union to seek voluntary arbitration to avert a strike.
Wheat futures posted a weekly gain but settled Friday off the highs.
Minneapolis May spring wheat closed at $7.43 ¼ a bushel, an increase of 1.3 percent on the week.
The main factor driving the wheat market is the declining condition of the U.S. winter wheat crop and the dry conditions in parts of the southern plains.
Corn corn settled at $4.79 per bushel, down 1.4 percent on the week.
Soybeans had an up week, supported by concerns about the very tight stocks in the United States.
May soybeans closed at $14.08 ¾ up 1.5 percent.
Stocks look so tight in the U.S. that there was talk that some American users might import Brazilian product.
But there are factors that could work against soybean prices, particularly in the new crop.
It is generally thought that U.S. soybean acreage will increase this spring.
Another issue is that China’s Sinograin Oils Corporation forecast the country’s soybean imports for the current crop year at between 66 and 67 million tonnes.
That is two to three million tonnes lower than the USDA’s forecast.
The Canadian Oilseed Processors Association said members crushed 136,136 tonnes of canola in the week ending March 19, up 3.8 percent.
That represented a capacity use of a little over 77 percent.
ICE Futures Canada, dollars per tonne
Canola May 2014 440.50 -14.70 -3.23%
Canola Jul 2014 449.90 -14.70 -3.16%
Canola Nov 2014 466.50 -14.10 -2.93%
Canola Jan 2015 473.40 -14.10 -2.89%
Canola Mar 2015 480.50 -13.50 -2.73%
Milling Wheat May 2014 222.00 -3.00 -1.33%
Milling Wheat Jul 2014 219.00 -3.00 -1.35%
Milling Wheat Oct 2014 221.00 -2.00 -0.90%
Durum Wheat May 2014 250.00 unch 0.00%
Durum Wheat Jul 2014 250.00 unch 0.00%
Durum Wheat Oct 2014 252.00 unch 0.00%
Barley May 2014 130.50 unch 0.00%
Barley Jul 2014 128.50 unch 0.00%
Barley Oct 2014 128.50 unch 0.00%
American crop prices in cents US/bushel, soybean meal in $US/short ton, soy oil in cents US/pound
Chicago
Soybeans May 2014 1408.75 -25 -1.74%
Soybeans Jul 2014 1382.25 -27.75 -1.97%
Soybeans Aug 2014 1325.5 -28.25 -2.09%
Soybeans Sep 2014 1231.75 -19 -1.52%
Soybeans Nov 2014 1177.25 -12.25 -1.03%
Soybeans Jan 2015 1181.25 -12.75 -1.07%
Soybean Meal May 2014 455.9 -10.6 -2.27%
Soybean Meal Jul 2014 440.9 -10 -2.22%
Soybean Meal Aug 2014 418.8 -9.3 -2.17%
Soybean Oil May 2014 41.02 -0.29 -0.70%
Soybean Oil Jul 2014 41.19 -0.29 -0.70%
Soybean Oil Aug 2014 41 -0.28 -0.68%
Corn May 2014 479 +0.5 +0.10%
Corn Jul 2014 483.75 +0.25 +0.05%
Corn Sep 2014 481 -0.5 -0.10%
Corn Dec 2014 480 -0.75 -0.16%
Corn Mar 2015 488 -1 -0.20%
Oats May 2014 415 +5 +1.22%
Oats Jul 2014 373.5 +6 +1.63%
Oats Sep 2014 336.5 +0.5 +0.15%
Oats Dec 2014 327.5 +6 +1.87%
Oats Mar 2015 324.5 +9.75 +3.10%
Wheat May 2014 693.25 -10.5 -1.49%
Wheat Jul 2014 695.5 -10 -1.42%
Wheat Sep 2014 702.5 -9.5 -1.33%
Wheat Dec 2014 712 -9 -1.25%
Wheat Mar 2015 717.5 -8.25 -1.14%
Minneapolis
Spring Wheat May 2014 743.25 -12 -1.59%
Spring Wheat Jul 2014 739.25 -9.5 -1.27%
Spring Wheat Sep 2014 741.5 -7 -0.94%
Spring Wheat Dec 2014 748.75 -5.75 -0.76%
Spring Wheat Mar 2015 753.5 -7 -0.92%
Kansas City
KC HRW Wheat May 2014 771.25 -10.75 -1.37%
KC HRW Wheat Jul 2014 766.5 -10.25 -1.32%
KC HRW Wheat Sep 2014 769.75 -7.25 -0.93%
KC HRW Wheat Dec 2014 777.75 -6.25 -0.80%
KC HRW Wheat Mar 2015 778 -6 -0.77%
Light crude oil nearby futures in New York rose 56 cents at $99.46 US per barrel.
The Bank of Canada noon rate for the loonie was 89.33 cents US, up from 88.88 cents the previous trading day. The U.S. dollar at noon was $1.1194 Cdn.
The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index ended the session down 26.07 points, or 0.18 percent, at 14,335.76.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 28.28 points or 0.17 percent, to 16,302.77.
The S&P 500 slipped 5.49 points or 0.29 percent, to 1,866.52.
The Nasdaq Composite dropped 42.498 points or 0.98 percent, to close at 4,276.788.
For the week, the TSX compositex rose 0.75 percent, the Dow rose 1.5 percent, the S&P 500 gained 1.4 percent and the Nasdaq advanced 0.7 percent.
