Canola mixed Wednesday with sellers and buyers in a standoff

Old crop canola futures traded in a narrow range Wednesday and closed a little lower but new crop made gains.

There is a stand off between farmers who think very tight stocks should push the price of old crop higher and buyers who think canola is overpriced.

May closed at $623.30, down 60 cents while November closed at $558.90, up $4.

The oilseed complex got early support from rising palm oil after Malaysian palm export data for the first 20 days of March was higher than expected, raising hopes that still huge palm oil stocks will be whittled down.

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Support also came from concerns about tight old crop U.S. soybean supplies and talk that Chinese buyers have cancelled orders from Brazil because of port congestion. Some business might switch to the U.S.

New crop soybean gains were limited by a report from private crop forecaster Lanworth that put the 2013-14 U.S. soybean area at 81.3 million acres, well above the USDA forecast for 77.5 million and Allendale’s forecast of 78.324 million.

USDA will issue its Prospective Plantings survey on March 28. At the same time it will release its March 1 grain stocks report.

Wheat was supported by concerns freezing temperatures in the U.S. Plains this weekend could harm some winter wheat fields that have recently come out of dormancy. Just last week, the area experienced much warmer than normal temperatures. Dodge City Kansas hit 28 C on March 15. Lows of -5 to -6 C are expected Saturday-Monday.
Lanworth expects U.S. farmers will seed 96.5 million acres of corn, producing a crop of 13.64 billion bu.
USDA’s forecast is 96.5 million acres and a crop of 14.53 billion bu.
Lanworth sees 81.3 million acres of soybeans, producing a crop of 3.455 billion bu.
USDA sees 77.5 million acres of soybeans and a crop of 3.405 billion bu.

Winnipeg ICE Futures Canada in dollar per tonne
Canola May 2013    623.30    -0.60    -0.10%
Canola Jul 2013    610.30    -0.10    -0.02%
Canola Nov 2013    558.90    +4.00    +0.72%
Canola Jan 2014    560.90    +4.40    +0.79%
Canola Mar 2014    559.40    +4.10    +0.74%

Milling Wheat May 2013    292.00    unch    0.00%
Milling Wheat Jul 2013    294.00    unch    0.00%
Milling Wheat Oct 2013    294.00    unch    0.00%

Durum Wheat May 2013    311.00    unch    0.00%
Durum Wheat Jul 2013    314.00    unch    0.00%
Durum Wheat Oct 2013    299.30    unch    0.00%

Barley May 2013    243.00    unch    0.00%

Barley Jul 2013    243.50    unch    0.00%
Barley Oct 2013    243.50    unch    0.00%

U.S. crops in cents per bushel, soybean meal in dollars per short ton and soybean oil in cents per pound
Chicago
Soybeans May 2013    1419.75    +13    +0.92%
Soybeans Jul 2013    1399.25    +11.25    +0.81%
Soybeans Aug 2013    1359    +9    +0.67%
Soybeans Sep 2013    1294.75    +7    +0.54%
Soybeans Nov 2013    1261    +5.5    +0.44%
Soybeans Jan 2014    1265.75    +5.5    +0.44%

Soybean Meal May 2013    413.8    +2.2    +0.53%
Soybean Meal Jul 2013    408.2    +2.5    +0.62%
Soybean Meal Aug 2013    393    +1.8    +0.46%

Soybean Oil May 2013    49.84    +0.36    +0.73%
Soybean Oil Jul 2013    50.1    +0.38    +0.76%
Soybean Oil Aug 2013    50.01    +0.35    +0.70%

Corn May 2013    732.5    +4    +0.55%
Corn Jul 2013    717.25    +5.25    +0.74%
Corn Sep 2013    595    +4.75    +0.80%
Corn Dec 2013    567    +4.75    +0.84%
Corn Mar 2014    576    +4.75    +0.83%

Oats May 2013    399.25    +3.25    +0.82%
Oats Jul 2013    389.75    +2.75    +0.71%
Oats Sep 2013    365.5    -3    -0.81%
Oats Dec 2013    359.5    -2.5    -0.69%
Oats Mar 2014    371.5    -2.5    -0.67%

Chicago soft red wheat
Wheat May 2013    736    +14    +1.94%
Wheat Jul 2013    734    +13.25    +1.84%
Wheat Sep 2013    739.25    +12.75    +1.75%
Wheat Dec 2013    750.25    +11.75    +1.59%
Wheat Mar 2014    762.5    +11.25    +1.50%

Minneapolis hard spring wheat
Spring Wheat May 2013    809.5    +10.75    +1.35%
Spring Wheat Jul 2013    809    +11    +1.38%
Spring Wheat Sep 2013    809    +12    +1.51%
Spring Wheat Dec 2013    815.25    +11.5    +1.43%
Spring Wheat Mar 2014    826.25    +12.75    +1.57%

Kansas City hard winter wheat
KCBT Red Wheat May 2013    766.25    +14.5    +1.93%
KCBT Red Wheat Jul 2013    771    +14.25    +1.88%
KCBT Red Wheat Sep 2013    782    +13.75    +1.79%
KCBT Red Wheat Dec 2013    796.25    +13    +1.66%
KCBT Red Wheat Mar 2014    809.5    +14    +1.76%

The Bank of Canada noon rate for the loonie was 97.39 cents US, up slightly from 97.33 cents on Tuesday. The U.S. buck was $1.0268 Cdn.

Crude oil in New York rose 80 cents to $92.96 per barrel.

Cyprus’s financial crisis continued to keep markets on edge, however U.S. Federal Reserve decision today to keep its bond-buying stimulus plan in place lifted indexes.

In early tallies —

The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index was up 52.68 points, or 0.41 percent, at 12,826.55.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 55.98 points, or 0.39 percent, to finish at 14,511.80.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index gained 10.38 points, or 0.67 percent, to end at 1,558.72.

The Nasdaq Composite Index added 25.09 points, or 0.78 percent, to close at 3,254.19.