Canola mostly falls on weak China economic data

May canola squeaked out a gain, but the oilseed was mostly down a little, pressured by falling soybeans and speculator selling.

Soybeans were under pressure due to talk that U.S. users might import soybeans from South America. Also, growth in manufacturing in China slowed more than expected in April, raising worries about the country that buys 60 percent of global soybean exports and a good part of the global canola trade. The weak China data also hurt the stock market and energy prices.

Wheat fell on profit taking after two days of solid grains tied to worries about reduced hard red winter wheat production. The Wheat Quality Tour continues today with results from western parts of Kansas appearing much worse than central areas. The tour will produce a crop estimate on Thursday.

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Temperatures expected to fall below freezing on Thursday and Friday morning on the Plains have the potential to do additional damage to the HRW wheat crop.

The cold weather will head into Midwest, carrying rain and snow, stopping the seeding campaign.

The potential for U.S. farmers to switch from corn into soybeans because the oilseed can be seeded later without yield potential disadvantage, also weighed on oilseeds.

Statistics Canada releases its March 31 grain stocks report on Friday. It will provide a better understanding of just how tight old crop canola stocks really are.

Crop forecaster Lanworth trimmed its U.S. corn production outlook to 13.90 billion bushels, down from its previous estimate of 13.93 billion, due to wet conditions that are delaying seeding. It cut its acreage estimate by one percent to 96.2 million acres, but edged its yield forecast up a little due to the good soil moisture.

It pegged the soybean crop at 3.425 billion bu., up from its previous outlook of 3.420 billion.

It also trimmed its estimate of Ukraine’s corn crop to 25.9 million tonnes from 26.4 million.

Winnipeg ICE Futures Canada dollars per tonne

Canola May 2013 637.10 +0.90 +0.14%

Canola Jul 2013 603.80 -9.80 -1.60%

Canola Nov 2013 541.70 -6.70 -1.22%

Canola Jan 2014 541.70 -7.70 -1.40%

Canola Mar 2014 536.00 -7.70 -1.42%

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 301.90 unch 0.00%

Durum Wheat Jul 2013 301.90 unch 0.00%

Durum Wheat Oct 2013 294.90 unch 0.00%

Barley May 2013 243.50 unch 0.00%

Barley Jul 2013 244.00 unch 0.00%

Barley Oct 2013 194.00 unch 0.00%

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

Chicago

Soybeans May 2013 1437.5 -30.25 -2.06%

Soybeans Jul 2013 1373 -26 -1.86%

Soybeans Aug 2013 1319.25 -20.5 -1.53%

Soybeans Sep 2013 1250 -14.75 -1.17%

Soybeans Nov 2013 1209.25 -14.25 -1.16%

Soybeans Jan 2014 1217 -13.75 -1.12%

Soybean Meal May 2013 415.6 -12.7 -2.97%

Soybean Meal Jul 2013 404.4 -10.1 -2.44%

Soybean Meal Aug 2013 382.6 -6.3 -1.62%

Soybean Oil May 2013 48.64 -0.49 -1.00%

Soybean Oil Jul 2013 48.85 -0.37 -0.75%

Soybean Oil Aug 2013 48.64 -0.4 -0.82%

Corn May 2013 681.75 -1.5 -0.22%

Corn Jul 2013 646.75 -3.25 -0.50%

Corn Sep 2013 573 -7.25 -1.25%

Corn Dec 2013 550.5 -6.25 -1.12%

Corn Mar 2014 561 -6 -1.06%

Oats May 2013 390.25 -25.25 -6.08%

Oats Jul 2013 380.25 -11.5 -2.94%

Oats Sep 2013 370 -4.25 -1.14%

Oats Dec 2013 362.75 -5.25 -1.43%

Oats Mar 2014 367.75 -4.75 -1.28%

Wheat May 2013 710.5 -11.25 -1.56%

Wheat Jul 2013 721 -10 -1.37%

Wheat Sep 2013 730.5 -9.75 -1.32%

Wheat Dec 2013 745 -8.75 -1.16%

Wheat Mar 2014 758.25 -8.5 -1.11%

Minneapolis

Spring Wheat May 2013 830 -7.5 -0.90%

Spring Wheat Jul 2013 815.75 -6.25 -0.76%

Spring Wheat Sep 2013 819 -5 -0.61%

Spring Wheat Dec 2013 827.5 -6.75 -0.81%

Spring Wheat Mar 2014 844.5 +1 +0.12%

Kansas City

KCBT Red Wheat May 2013 794.25 -3.75 -0.47%

KCBT Red Wheat Jul 2013 782.25 -7.25 -0.92%

KCBT Red Wheat Sep 2013 791.25 -6.75 -0.85%

KCBT Red Wheat Dec 2013 805.25 -7.5 -0.92%

KCBT Red Wheat Mar 2014 815.25 -5.75 -0.70%

Light crude oil nearby futures in New York were down $2.43 at $91.03 US per barrel.

The Canadian dollar at noon was 99.17 cents US, down from 99.29 cents the previous trading day. The U.S. dollar at noon was $1.0084 Cdn.

In early tallies —

The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index fell 135.21 points, or 1.09 percent, to finish at 12,321.29.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 138.85 points, or 0.94 percent, to close at 14,700.95.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index dropped 14.88 points, or 0.93 percent, to finish at 1,582.71.

The Nasdaq Composite Index slid 29.66 points, or 0.89 percent, to 3,299.13.

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