Most crop futures including canola rose on Wednesday, with position jockeying ahead of Thursday’s USDA reports a key trading feature, but also support from weather issues.
Oats have caught fire the past few sessions with the May contract closing up 18.75 cents since the open on Monday and December up about 9.75 cents on concerns about the late spring and heavy snow pack in the Canadian Prairies and northern U.S.
Steady commercial demand and slower farmer sales helped support canola futures. Support also came from tight remaining stocks of canola.
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U.S. grains: Soybean futures set two-week high on US weather worry, soyoil rally
Chicago Board of Trade soybean futures touched a two-week high on Friday on worries that heat may threaten U.S. crops and expectations that the country’s biofuel policy would boost demand for soyoil, analysts said.
Traders were also positioning ahead of Thursday’s USDA reports on stocks and prospective planting. Watch for our tweets soon after the reports are released @darcemcmillan and @westernproducer.
Canola and wheat received some support from cold weather in Western Europe that is delaying and stressing crops in France and Britain.
May canola closed at $638, up $6.60 and November closed at $565, up $5.
Wheat was also supported by concerns about the severe cold on the weekend and on Monday that hit U.S. hard red winter wheat, potentially damaging more advanced crops. On the other hand, some recent world wheat tenders went to non-U.S. suppliers, indicating American wheat prices might be becoming overpriced again.
Falling U.S. ethanol stocks, indicating a rise in demand, supported corn prices.
Winnipeg ICE Futures Canada in dollars per tonne
Canola May 2013 638.00 +6.60 +1.05%
Canola Jul 2013 622.20 +5.80 +0.94%
Canola Nov 2013 565.00 +5.00 +0.89%
Canola Jan 2014 566.00 +5.00 +0.89%
Canola Mar 2014 563.00 +5.00 +0.90%
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 243.50 +0.50 +0.21%
Barley Jul 2013 244.00 +0.50 +0.21%
Barley Oct 2013 244.00 +0.50 +0.21%
U.S. crops in dollars per bushel, soybean meal in dollars per short ton, soybean oil in cents per pound.
Chicago
Soybeans May 2013 1453.75 +6 +0.41%
Soybeans Jul 2013 1431 +4.5 +0.32%
Soybeans Aug 2013 1385.5 +3.25 +0.24%
Soybeans Sep 2013 1315.25 +3.25 +0.25%
Soybeans Nov 2013 1278.25 +1.75 +0.14%
Soybeans Jan 2014 1282.5 +1.5 +0.12%
Soybean Meal May 2013 423.1 +2.9 +0.69%
Soybean Meal Jul 2013 418.3 +2.8 +0.67%
Soybean Meal Aug 2013 400.3 +2.4 +0.60%
Soybean Oil May 2013 50.82 unch 0.00%
Soybean Oil Jul 2013 51.03 -0.03 -0.06%
Soybean Oil Aug 2013 50.94 -0.03 -0.06%
Corn May 2013 735.25 +5 +0.68%
Corn Jul 2013 716 +3.75 +0.53%
Corn Sep 2013 603 -0.75 -0.12%
Corn Dec 2013 571 unch 0.00%
Corn Mar 2014 580 -0.25 -0.04%
Oats May 2013 412.5 +12.75 +3.19%
Oats Jul 2013 407 +12.25 +3.10%
Oats Sep 2013 386 +12.25 +3.28%
Oats Dec 2013 369.25 +3.5 +0.96%
Oats Mar 2014 377.75 +3.5 +0.94%
Chicago soft red winter
Wheat May 2013 736.75 +5.25 +0.72%
Wheat Jul 2013 736 +3.75 +0.51%
Wheat Sep 2013 742.5 +3.75 +0.51%
Wheat Dec 2013 753.25 +3 +0.40%
Wheat Mar 2014 764.25 +2.25 +0.30%
Minneapolis hard red spring
Spring Wheat May 2013 813 +2.5 +0.31%
Spring Wheat Jul 2013 812.75 +2.5 +0.31%
Spring Wheat Sep 2013 813 +3.25 +0.40%
Spring Wheat Dec 2013 821 +4.25 +0.52%
Spring Wheat Mar 2014 834 +3.75 +0.45%
Kansas City hard red winter wheat
KCBT Red Wheat May 2013 774 +5.5 +0.72%
KCBT Red Wheat Jul 2013 779 +5.25 +0.68%
KCBT Red Wheat Sep 2013 790 +5.25 +0.67%
KCBT Red Wheat Dec 2013 804.75 +5.75 +0.72%
KCBT Red Wheat Mar 2014 816.75 +6 +0.74%
The Bank of Canada noon rate for the loonie was 98.33 cents US, little changed from 98.37 on Tuesday. The U.S. buck was $1.0170 Cdn.
Crude oil in New York rose 24 cents to $96.58 per barrel.
Financial institutions in Cyprus reopen on Thursday and there were worries about a possible run on banks as people try to get their money out. Withdrawals will be limited. There are concerns people in other European countries might also start withdrawing money, fearing that what happened in Cyprus might be repeated in other countries.
Inflation in Canada jumped by a surprisingly strong 1.2 percent in February fueled by a hike in gasoline. It was the biggest month-to-month increase since January 1991 when Ottawa introduced the GST. That increased the year on year rate to 1.2 percent from 0.5 percent in January, which was the lowest in three years.
In early tallies _
The S&P/TSX composite index ended down 6.73 points to 12,699.65.
The Dow Jones industrial average was down 33.41 points, or 0.23 percent, at 14,526.24.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index was down 0.85 points, or 0.05 percent, at 1,562.92.
The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 4.04 points, or 0.12 percent, at 3,256.52.
