Canola rallies back to gain 1.3 percent on week

A strong performance to close the week helped July canola post a $6.10 per tonne gain from the previous Friday, or 1.3 percent.

Traders were positioning ahead of Monday’s Statistics Canada March 31 stocks report. A Reuters survey shows traders expect nine million tonnes of canola stocks, the largest ever for this point in the year.

July canola closed Friday at $480.40 per tonne, up $11.20 or 2.39 percent on the day.

Slow farmer selling, stronger soybeans, meal and oil and steady commercial demand all supported canola.

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Concerns about the slow start to the seeding season on the Prairies are in the background, but they have had little impact so far on new crop futures.

November closed at $484.40, up $8.20 or 1.72 percent on the day.

Over the week, November fell 80 cents per tonne or 0.2 percent.

At this point the amount of crop seeded on the Prairies is usually low.

In Saskatchewan last year by May 13 the percentage of seeded crop reached eight percent, two years ago it was 22 percent and three years ago it was at five percent.

Old crop soybeans rose on Friday on bargain buying after the big fall on Thursday.

But overall, soybeans fell about one percent on the week. The concern about tight domestic supply in the U.S. has lessened because of imports from Brazil and slower demand from China.

Corn fell on expectations that warm, dry weather in the central and southern parts of Midwest this weekend will allow farmers to make seeding progress.

Wheat rose on the concern about the state of the U.S. hard red winter wheat crop.

The western part of the HRWW zone is already severely stressed and temperature are rising, with highs in the low 30s C on the weekend, moving to the mid to high 30s early next week.

Crop forecaster Informa lowered its winter wheat production forecast to 1.496 billion bushels, down 120 million from an April forecast and down from the 1.534 million produced last year.

Violence in Ukraine also supported wheat.

The Canadian Oilseed Processors Association said members crushed 134,263 tonnes of canola in the week ending April 30, down 0.4 percent from the week before.

That represented a capacity use of 75.3 percent, down from almost 81 percent in the year to date.

Winnipeg ICE Futures Canada dollars per tonne

Canola May 2014 493.40 +14.30 +2.98%

Canola Jul 2014 480.40 +11.20 +2.39%

Canola Nov 2014 484.40 +8.20 +1.72%

Canola Jan 2015 489.90 +8.10 +1.68%

Canola Mar 2015 494.60 +8.00 +1.64%

Milling Wheat May 2014 235.00 +5.00 +2.17%

Milling Wheat Jul 2014 241.00 +4.00 +1.69%

Milling Wheat Oct 2014 241.00 +4.00 +1.69%

Durum Wheat May 2014 247.00 unch 0.00%

Durum Wheat Jul 2014 247.00 unch 0.00%

Durum Wheat Oct 2014 242.00 unch 0.00%

Barley May 2014 139.50 unch 0.00%

Barley Jul 2014 140.50 unch 0.00%

Barley Oct 2014 140.50 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 1480.75 +7.25 +0.49%

Soybeans Jul 2014 1470.75 +9.75 +0.67%

Soybeans Aug 2014 1407 +7.25 +0.52%

Soybeans Sep 2014 1281.5 +0.25 +0.02%

Soybeans Nov 2014 1222.5 -3 -0.24%

Soybeans Jan 2015 1228 -3 -0.24%

Soybean Meal May 2014 491.2 +4.5 +0.92%

Soybean Meal Jul 2014 480.4 +3.7 +0.78%

Soybean Meal Aug 2014 453.2 +2.2 +0.49%

Soybean Oil May 2014 41.29 +0.37 +0.90%

Soybean Oil Jul 2014 41.51 +0.35 +0.85%

Soybean Oil Aug 2014 41.49 +0.37 +0.90%

Corn May 2014 494 -9.25 -1.84%

Corn Jul 2014 499.5 -7.5 -1.48%

Corn Sep 2014 496.25 -6.25 -1.24%

Corn Dec 2014 494 -5.5 -1.10%

Corn Mar 2015 502 -5.5 -1.08%

Oats May 2014 407.5 -10.5 -2.51%

Oats Jul 2014 350 -3 -0.85%

Oats Sep 2014 337.75 -2.25 -0.66%

Oats Dec 2014 327.25 -5.75 -1.73%

Oats Mar 2015 325.75 -4.75 -1.44%

Wheat May 2014 707.75 +9 +1.29%

Wheat Jul 2014 716 +8.75 +1.24%

Wheat Sep 2014 724.25 +8.25 +1.15%

Wheat Dec 2014 737.75 +8 +1.10%

Wheat Mar 2015 749.25 +7.5 +1.01%

Minneapolis

Spring Wheat May 2014 763 +14.25 +1.90%

Spring Wheat Jul 2014 775 +13.75 +1.81%

Spring Wheat Sep 2014 782.75 +10.75 +1.39%

Spring Wheat Dec 2014 793.75 +11.75 +1.50%

Spring Wheat Mar 2015 800.25 +10.5 +1.33%

Kansas City

KC HRW Wheat May 2014 831.75 +25.5 +3.16%

KC HRW Wheat Jul 2014 821.75 +17.75 +2.21%

KC HRW Wheat Sep 2014 823.5 +16.25 +2.01%

KC HRW Wheat Dec 2014 827.75 +12.5 +1.53%

KC HRW Wheat Mar 2015 827.25 +10 +1.22%

Light crude oil nearby futures in New York rose 34 cents at $99.76 US per barrel.

The Canadian dollar at noon was 91.13 cents US, down from 91.20 cents the previous trading day. The U.S. dollar at noon was $1.0973 Cdn.

Worries about violence in Ukraine offset an upbeat monthly jobs report.

U.S. employers added 288,000 jobs in April, beating expectations for an increase of 210,000. That was the most in more than two years.

However, a large number of people dropped out of the labour force. That pushed the unemployment rate to 6.3 percent, a 5 ½ year low.

Stronger gold and crude oil prices propelled the Toronto Stock Exchange composite index up 101.08 points, or 0.69 percent, at 14,765.15.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 45.98 points or 0.28 percent, to 16,512.89.

The S&P 500 lost 2.54 points or 0.13 percent, to 1,881.14.

The Nasdaq Composite dropped 3.554 points or 0.09 percent, to 4,123.897.

For the week, the TSX composite climbed 1.6 percent, its third straight weekly gain. It is up about 8.4 percent this year.

The Dow was up 0.9 percent on the week, the S&P 500 was up 0.9 percent and the Nasdaq added 1.2 percent.

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