Canola rises in relatively sluggish day

The absence of something going really wrong in Ukraine sent grain prices lower Monday, but oilseed markets largely ignored the Crimean crisis.

“It’s pretty much all Ukraine, Ukraine, Ukraine, Ukraine, Ukraine,” said Ken Ball, a broker with P.I. Financial in Winnipeg.

“The grains are still spinning off the Ukraine situation.”

Monday spring wheat futures fell about nine cents per bushel, hard red winter wheat fell seven to eight cents and soft red winter fell 12 cents.

Canola and soybeans both rose a few cents per bushel.

Read Also

Second Harvest redirecting surplus food to those in need

Second Harvest, billed as Canada’s largest food rescuer, was on hand at Ag in Motion in Langham, Saskatchewan, from July 15 to 17 to connect with farmers and raise awareness of their presence on the Prairies.

Ball said the Crimean crisis drove wheat prices high in recent days, with the market worrying about Black Sea tensions causing interruptions in grain markets, but the lack of violence after the Crimean independence/annexation vote relieved some of the worry built-into grains prices.

Oilseeds like canola and soybeans are much less affected by Black Sea supplies, so there wasn’t much reason to move.

Relief over the relatively peaceful Crimean vote allowed world stock markets to turn to other matters and leap higher with positive factory order news for February igniting a nearly 200 point rally of the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

While canola prices rose only $2.10 per tonne and $2.20 per tonne on the May and July contracts, they maintained their recent heady gains, which have closed much of the value gap between canola and soybeans.

For most of the winter, canola has been heavily discounted compared to soybeans, with $160 per tonne lost, but in recent days $40 of that gap has been closed.

Ball said the manic buying of canola futures is being driven by speculative investment funds. Some is likely short-covering, but much of it is likely inspired by the feeling that the canola-soybeans spread got too wide and needed to be narrowed.

Oat futures had another jolting day Monday, rising 13 cents per bushel for the May contract and nine for July, but prairie cash oat prices have a poor correlation to oat futures because of horrific logistics problems.

Winnipeg ICE Futures Canada dollars per tonne

Canola May 2014    463.20    +2.10    +0.46%
Canola Jul 2014    472.30    +2.20    +0.47%
Canola Nov 2014    488.60    +1.90    +0.39%
Canola Jan 2015    495.60    +2.00    +0.41%
Canola Mar 2015    502.60    +2.30    +0.46%

Milling Wheat May 2014    214.00    -8.00    -3.60%
Milling Wheat Jul 2014    211.00    -8.00    -3.65%
Milling Wheat Oct 2014    212.00    -7.00    -3.20%

Durum Wheat May 2014    250.00    +1.00    +0.40%
Durum Wheat Jul 2014    250.00    unch    0.00%
Durum Wheat Oct 2014    252.00    +2.00    +0.80%

Barley May 2014    130.50    +2.00    +1.56%
Barley Jul 2014    128.50    unch    0.00%
Barley Oct 2014    128.50    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    1391.75    +3.25    +0.23%
Soybeans Jul 2014    1375.25    +3.5    +0.26%
Soybeans Aug 2014    1336.5    +3.25    +0.24%
Soybeans Sep 2014    1234.5    +2.25    +0.18%
Soybeans Nov 2014    1175.75    +1.25    +0.11%
Soybeans Jan 2015    1179.75    +1.5    +0.13%

Soybean Meal May 2014    446.6    +2.6    +0.59%
Soybean Meal Jul 2014    434.6    +3.2    +0.74%
Soybean Meal Aug 2014    417.4    +2.6    +0.63%

Soybean Oil May 2014    41.89    -0.4    -0.95%
Soybean Oil Jul 2014    42.03    -0.38    -0.90%
Soybean Oil Aug 2014    41.91    -0.35    -0.83%

Corn May 2014    479    -7    -1.44%
Corn Jul 2014    484    -6.5    -1.33%
Corn Sep 2014    482.5    -6    -1.23%
Corn Dec 2014    482    -5.25    -1.08%
Corn Mar 2015    490.25    -5    -1.01%

Oats May 2014    457.5    +13.75    +3.10%
Oats Jul 2014    393.25    +9    +2.34%
Oats Sep 2014    344.25    +5.75    +1.70%
Oats Dec 2014    333.75    +5.25    +1.60%
Oats Mar 2015    328    +5    +1.55%

Wheat May 2014    674.5    -12.75    -1.86%
Wheat Jul 2014    678.25    -12    -1.74%
Wheat Sep 2014    686.25    -12    -1.72%

Minneapolis
Spring Wheat May 2014    724.25    -9.75    -1.33%
Spring Wheat Jul 2014    717.5    -9.5    -1.31%
Spring Wheat Sep 2014    715.75    -9.25    -1.28%
Spring Wheat Dec 2014    724    -9.25    -1.26%
Spring Wheat Mar 2015    729    -9.5    -1.29%

Kansas City
KCBT Red Wheat May 2014    743.5    -8    -1.06%
KCBT Red Wheat Jul 2014    738.5    -7.25    -0.97%
KCBT Red Wheat Sep 2014    742.5    -8    -1.07%
KCBT Red Wheat Dec 2014    752    -8    -1.05%
KCBT Red Wheat Mar 2015    753.75    -8.5    -1.12%

Light crude oil nearby futures in New York dropped 81 cents at $98.08 US per barrel.

The Canadian dollar at noon was 90.48 cents US, up from 90.20 cents the previous trading day. The U.S. dollar at noon was $1.1052 Cdn.

---

Newsletter Sign Up - Receive free Western Producer newsletters

Breaking ag news stories and commodities markets snapshots delivered daily right to your inbox!

Your Email(Required)

Your Postal Code(Required)

Consent

I consent to receiving emails from Glacier FarmMedia, its affiliates and divisions and third parties, containing agriculture news, updates and promotions. I can unsubscribe at any time

Email

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Δ