Canola makes slight gains

By 
Reading Time: 3 minutes

Published: January 18, 2016

,

With U.S. markets closed for the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day holiday, canola had a chance to edge back a little of the value it had been losing.

Canola rose $2 per tonne to $486.70 on the Winnipeg canola futures March contract, and $2.40 to $494.30 for May.

“Canola was firm but quiet. It was on the cheap side, so it just attracted some light but steady buying,” said Ken Ball, a broker with P.I. Financial.

Canola futures have roughly followed the path of soybeans and soybean oil, even though the Canadian dollar has plunged in recent days.

Read Also

PhiBer Manufacturing won the AgTech innovation award for its drone carrier at the Ag in Motion innovation program, with Saskatchewan Minister of Agriculture Daryl Harrison, right, presenting the award. Photo: Jonah Grignon

Ag in Motion innovation awards showcase top 2025 ag technology

The 2025 Ag in Motion Innovation Awards celebrated winners across five categories: agronomics, agtech, business solutions, environmental sustainability and equipment.

That should have seen canola rise more on the charts, all other things being equal, but that didn’t happen.

So Monday’s gain on the soybean complex won back some ground.

“It hadn’t really reacted to the losses in the Canadian dollar,” said Ball.

Crop futures have been resilient in the face of the big selloffs in equity markets around the world and the weakness in crude oil.

While stock markets have been caught in a dire mood, with triple digit losses on the Dow 30, crops have generally edged higher.

Ball thinks that may be due to the cheapness of crops, after many months of weakness when equities were still strong.

“They’re at levels where it’s not easy to make them go down,” said Ball.

“Prices just seem to have found a level where they’re able to draw in enough buying to hold. They may not have much lower to go.

Light crude oil nearby futures in New York were down 1.78 cents to US$29.42 per barrel.
The Canadian dollar at noon was US68.93 cents, up from 68.83 cents the previous trading day. The U.S. dollar at noon was C$1.4507.

Winnipeg ICE Futures Canada dollars per tonne
Canola Mar 2016   486.70   +2.00   +0.41%
Canola May 2016   494.30   +2.40   +0.49%
Canola Jul 2016   498.00   +3.50   +0.71%
Canola Nov 2016   495.80   +3.50   +0.71%
Canola Jan 2017   498.30   +3.40   +0.69%

Milling Wheat Mar 2016   246.00   +4.00   +1.65%
Milling Wheat May 2016   248.00   +4.00   +1.64%
Milling Wheat Jul 2016   252.00   +4.00   +1.61%

Durum Wheat Mar 2016   334.00   +7.00   +2.14%
Durum Wheat May 2016   342.00   +7.00   +2.09%
Durum Wheat Jul 2016   342.00   +7.00   +2.09%

Barley Mar 2016   183.00   +1.00   +0.55%
Barley May 2016   188.00   unch   0.00%
Barley Jul 2016   190.00   unch   0.00%

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

Chicago
Soybeans Mar 2016   0   -3.25   -100.00%
Soybeans May 2016   0   -4.25   -100.00%

Soybeans Jul 2016   0   -4.5   -100.00%
Soybeans Aug 2016   0   -4.25   -100.00%
Soybeans Sep 2016   0   -4.5   -100.00%
Soybeans Nov 2016   0   -5   -100.00%

Soybean Meal Mar 2016   0   -3.5   -100.00%
Soybean Meal May 2016   0   -3.4   -100.00%
Soybean Meal Jul 2016   0   -3.1   -100.00%

Soybean Oil Mar 2016   0   -0.1   -100.00%
Soybean Oil May 2016   0   -0.1   -100.00%
Soybean Oil Jul 2016   0   -0.11   -100.00%

Corn Mar 2016   0   +5.25   +-100.00%
Corn May 2016   0   +4.75   +-100.00%
Corn Jul 2016   0   +4.5   +-100.00%
Corn Sep 2016   0   +3.5   +-100.00%
Corn Dec 2016   0   +3.25   +-100.00%

Oats Mar 2016   0   -1.5   -100.00%
Oats May 2016   0   -1.75   -100.00%
Oats Jul 2016   0   -2.25   -100.00%
Oats Sep 2016   0   -2.25   -100.00%
Oats Dec 2016   0   -2.25   -100.00%

Wheat Mar 2016   0   +5   +-100.00%
Wheat May 2016   0   +4.25   +-100.00%
Wheat Jul 2016   0   +4   +-100.00%
Wheat Sep 2016   0   +3.75   +-100.00%
Wheat Dec 2016   0   +4   +-100.00%

Minneapolis
Spring Wheat Mar 2016   0   +4.75   +-100.00%
Spring Wheat May 2016   0   +4   +-100.00%
Spring Wheat Jul 2016   0   +3   +-100.00%
Spring Wheat Sep 2016   0   +2.5   +-100.00%

Spring Wheat Dec 2016   0   +1.75   +-100.00%

Kansas City
Hard Red Wheat Mar 2016   0   +5.5   +-100.00%
Hard Red Wheat May 2016   0   +5.25   +-100.00%
Hard Red Wheat Jul 2016   0   +5.25   +-100.00%
Hard Red Wheat Sep 2016   0   +5   +-100.00%
Hard Red Wheat Dec 2016   0   +4.75   +-100.00%

About the author

Ed White

Ed White

Markets at a glance

explore

Stories from our other publications