Canola closed higher Friday supported by a weaker loonie and crusher buying after trading lower in the morning.
March canola closed at $598.40, up $5.90 or one percent.
November closed at $543.40, up $5.70.
Since the close the previous Friday, March canola fell $6 per tonne and January fell $9.60.
Canola did better than soybeans on Friday. Soy closed little changed as traders continued to focus on the technical weakness Thursday when it was unable to hang on to gains despite bullish news about U.S. exports.
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U.S. grains: Corn futures edge up, soybeans sag on improving US crop ratings
Chicago Board of Trade corn futures extended slight gains on Tuesday as short covering and bargain buying continued to support a rebound from contract lows reached during the previous session.
However, March soybeans gained 0.3 percent on the week.
Corn closed a little higher Friday, supported by forecasts for dry weather in the U.S. Plains and Midwest for the rest of this month and on dry weather in Argentina and southern Brazil.
Corn gained 2.6 percent on the week.
The concerns about dry U.S. weather helped Chicago wheat notch a 4.8 percent gain for the week, its second straight positive week and the biggest weekly gain in six months.
- • Informa Economics forecast 2013 U.S. corn area at 99.303 million acres, above its previous forecast for 99.026 million and above the 2012 area of 97.2 million.
If achieved, that would be the largest corn area since 1936, Reuters reported.
However, a Reuters analysis piece published today suggests that growers in Iowa and Illinois, which account for 30 percent of corn acres in the U.S. might scale back corn seeding after several years of back to back corn crops led to disappointing yields.
Also the threat of drought looms larger for corn, which must get rain in July to reach full yield potential while soybeans get wait until August.
The piece says the acres lost in the normally high yield Midwest would be replaced with plantings in less productive areas of North and South Dakota and the Mississippi Delta.
The implication is that with the inclusion of more acres in lower yield states could lead to a lower national average yield and proportionately lower production despite larger acreage.
• The Canadian Oilseed Processors Association said members crushed 130,824 tonnes of canola in the week ending Jan. 16. That is a capacity use of about 79 percent, well below the average to date of 89 percent.
• After backing out of ag commodities through the fall and early winter, speculators are turning more bullish and area getting back in. They raised their net long positions in corn and soybeans and narrowed their net short position in wheat in the week to Jan. 15.
Winnipeg (per tonne)
Canola Mar 13 $598.40, up $5.90 +1.00%
Canola May 13 $588.90, up $6.70 +1.15%
Canola Jul 13 $581.30, up $7.60 +1.32%
Canola Nov 13 $543.40, up $5.70 +1.06%
Milling Wheat Mar 13 $291.00, unchanged
Milling Wheat May 13 $294.00, unchanged
Milling Wheat Jul 13 $296.00, unchanged
Durum Wheat Mar 13 $312.40, unchanged
Durum Wheat May 13 $316.40, unchanged
Durum Wheat Jul 13 $319.40, unchanged
Barley Mar 13 $242.90, unchanged
Barley May 13 $243.90, unchanged
Barley Jul 13 $244.40, unchanged
Chicago
Soybeans (P) Mar 13 $14.2925, down 1.0 cent -0.07%
Soybeans (P) May 13 $14.1675, up 2.0 +0.14%
Soybeans (P) Jul 13 $14.10, up 4.0 +0.28%
Soybeans (P) Aug 13 $13.85, up 5.5 +0.40%
Corn (P) Mar 13 $7.275, up 3.0 +0.41%
Corn (P) May 13 $7.2925. up 4.0 +0.55%
Corn (P) Jul 13 $7.215, up 4.5 +0.63%
Oats (P) Mar 13 $3.555, up 0.5 +0.14%
Oats (P) May 13 $3.6125, up 1.0 +0.28%
Oats (P) Jul 13 $3.66, up 1.25 +0.34%
Minneapolis (per bushel)
Spring Wheat Mar 13 $8.74, up 4.75 cents +0.55%
Spring Wheat May 13 $8.8525, up 5.0 +0.57%
Spring Wheat Jul 13 $8.9325, up 5.75 +0.65%
Spring Wheat Sep 13 $8.9225, up 5.5 +0.62%
The Bank of Canada noon rate for the loonie was $1.0063 US, down from $1.049 the previous day.
The U.S. dollar was 99.37 cents US.
Nearby crude oil in New York rose seven cents to $95.56 per barrel.
Big U.S. banks reported stronger than expected quarter profits this week, helping to lift market indexes. In Canada, Research in Motion gained on high hopes for the introduction of its new BlackBerry phone.
The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index was up 50.96 points, or 0.40 percent, 12,725.69.
The index climbed about one percent for the week.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 53.68 points, or 0.39 percent, to 13,649.70.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index climbed 5.04 points, or 0.34 percent, to 1,485.98.
The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 1.30 points, or 0.04 percent, at 3,134.71.
The Dow and S&P 500 ended at their highest levels since December 2007.
For the week, the Dow rose 1.2 percent, the S&P 500 rose 0.9 percent and the Nasdaq climbed 0.3 percent.
