There is nothing like March dust storms in the southern Plains to send wheat futures skyward, and that was the situation Monday, traders said.
May and July hard red winter wheat futures rose 23 cents per bushel, spring wheat futures contracts rose about 20 cents and soft red winter wheat rose 21 cents after exposed hard red winter fields suffered a weekend of winds.
“The funds are still playing it,” said broker Ken Ball of P.I. Financial in Winnipeg.
“There’s no real fresh news. They’re still anxious about Ukraine. They’re still watching the winter wheat situation in the southern Plains.”
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Dryness also prevails in Eastern Europe and in areas of Ukraine and Russia, reducing yield potentials there.
The situation around the key Black Sea exporting region also had anxious buyers taking some coverage. Little bloodshed or destruction has occurred during the Russian invasion of Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula, something that has relieved markets in recent days, but the massing of Russian troops elsewhere along the Ukraine border has reignited fears that something could cause significant disruptions of Black Sea shipments.
Most other crop commodities rose in sympathy with wheat, with corn rising 10 cents, soybeans 16 and canola 17 cents per bushel. Soybeans were helped by technical factors after overnight weakness but hurt by U.S. Department of Agriculture export inspections that came in beneath the low end of estimates, at 732,132 tonnes versus the expected range of 770,000 to 925,000.
Corn exports surprised to the upside, coming in at 1.14 million tonnes versus an expected range of 800,000 to one million tonnes.
After the close, the USDA released weekly state crop condition reports. Kansas, the largest wheat producing states, changed little with its poor to very poor rating rising one point to 21 percent.
The poor to very poor rating in Oklahoma increased to 42 percent from 37 percent the week before.
The worst two categories in Texas rose to 55 percent from 52 the week before.
Winnipeg ICE Futures Canada dollars per tonne
Canola May 2014 448.00 +7.50 +1.70%
Canola Jul 2014 457.50 +7.60 +1.69%
Canola Nov 2014 474.90 +8.40 +1.80%
Canola Jan 2015 482.30 +8.90 +1.88%
Canola Mar 2015 489.50 +9.00 +1.87%
Milling Wheat May 2014 229.00 +7.00 +3.15%
Milling Wheat Jul 2014 226.00 +7.00 +3.20%
Milling Wheat Oct 2014 227.00 +6.00 +2.71%
Durum Wheat May 2014 250.00 unch 0.00%
Durum Wheat Jul 2014 250.00 unch 0.00%
Durum Wheat Oct 2014 252.00 unch 0.00%
Barley May 2014 130.50 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 1425.5 +16.75 +1.19%
Soybeans Jul 2014 1398.75 +16.5 +1.19%
Soybeans Aug 2014 1338.25 +12.75 +0.96%
Soybeans Sep 2014 1241.25 +9.5 +0.77%
Soybeans Nov 2014 1184 +6.75 +0.57%
Soybeans Jan 2015 1188 +6.75 +0.57%
Soybean Meal May 2014 462 +6.1 +1.34%
Soybean Meal Jul 2014 447.7 +6.8 +1.54%
Soybean Meal Aug 2014 424.8 +6 +1.43%
Soybean Oil May 2014 40.84 -0.18 -0.44%
Soybean Oil Jul 2014 41.03 -0.16 -0.39%
Soybean Oil Aug 2014 40.88 -0.12 -0.29%
Corn May 2014 490 +11 +2.30%
Corn Jul 2014 494.5 +10.75 +2.22%
Corn Sep 2014 490.5 +9.5 +1.98%
Corn Dec 2014 487.75 +7.75 +1.61%
Corn Mar 2015 495.5 +7.5 +1.54%
Oats May 2014 417.5 +2.5 +0.60%
Oats Jul 2014 378.5 +5 +1.34%
Oats Sep 2014 345 +8.5 +2.53%
Oats Dec 2014 335.75 +8.25 +2.52%
Oats Mar 2015 330.75 +6.25 +1.93%
Wheat May 2014 714.5 +21.25 +3.07%
Wheat Jul 2014 716.75 +21.25 +3.06%
Wheat Sep 2014 723.5 +21 +2.99%
Wheat Dec 2014 732.5 +20.5 +2.88%
Wheat Mar 2015 737.75 +20.25 +2.82%
Minneapolis
Spring Wheat May 2014 763 +19.75 +2.66%
Spring Wheat Jul 2014 759.25 +20 +2.71%
Spring Wheat Sep 2014 761 +19.5 +2.63%
Spring Wheat Dec 2014 766.75 +18 +2.40%
Spring Wheat Mar 2015 772 +18.5 +2.46%
Kansas City
KC HRW Wheat May 2014 794.5 +23.25 +3.01%
KC HRW Wheat Sep 2014 791.75 +22 +2.86%
KC HRW Wheat Dec 2014 798.25 +20.5 +2.64%
KC HRW Wheat Mar 2015 796.75 +18.75 +2.41%
Light crude oil nearby futures in New York rose 14 cents at $99.60 US per barrel.
The Canadian dollar at noon was 89.15 cents US, down from 89.33 cents the previous trading day. The U.S. dollar at noon was $1.1217 Cdn.
The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index closed down 57.21 points, or 0.40 percent, at 14,278.55.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 26.08 points or 0.16 percent, to end at 16,276.69.
The S&P 500 dropped 9.08 points or 0.49 percent, to finish at 1,857.44.
The Nasdaq Composite slid 50.403 points or 1.18 percent, to close at 4,226.385.
