Canola futures gained ground on Tuesday, lifted by news of increase canola meal shipments to China.
March canola closed at $532.50 per tonne, up $2.90.
Canola got no help from American crop futures, which were mostly down a little on improving weather in South America and Europe.
The cold snap is winding down in Europe and Argentina has had better rain in recent weeks.
• Prime minister Stephen Harper is in China this week and the trade visit provided the setting for an announcement by Tongwei Co. Ltd., a major Chinese feed company.
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Weak demand continues to hamper prices for feed barley and wheat, said Darcy Haley, vice-president of Ag Value Brokers in Lethbridge.
It said it intends to increase its purchase of Canadian canola meal by up to $240 million annually by 2015. Tongwei believes its imports of Canadian canola could rise to $900 million over the next decade.
The Canola Council of Canada, with assistance from the federal Economic Action Plan, has been promoting canola meal in China’s dairy and aquaculture industries.
Canada has also benefited from China’s restriction on meal imports from India.
• The United States is on the path to a record large corn crop judging by the results of a Reuters poll.
The news agency polled 24 analysts for their ideas about 2012 seeding.
The average of the range of estimates for corn was 94.2 million acres, up fro 91.9 million last year. That could produce a record crop of 13.8 billion bushels based on a trend line yield of 161.4 bu. per acre. The previous record was 13.1 billion set in 2009.
Farmers were expected to plant 75.3 million acres with soybeans, up slightly from last year’s 75 million.
At today’s prices, the relative profitability of seeding corn is substantially better than soybeans.
• With today’s gains, March canola rose above its 100-day moving average and that might spark technical buying on Wednesday.
• The lack of moisture this winter on the Canadian Prairies and northern U.S. plains is generating more talk in markets and providing support for prices.
• Markets await the U.S. Department of Agriculture world supply and demand report on Thursday for direction.
• There was talk that Greek politicians had made difficult compromises on austerity policies needed to get a bailout package needed to meet debts that come due in March. However, they delayed announcement of the deal until Wednesday.
• China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said industrial output growth is likely to slow this quarter as the world economy cools and Europe’s debt crisis worsens. Output grew 13.9 percent in 2011 from the previous year. Beijing is targeting an 11 percent increase this year.
Winnipeg (per tonne)
Canola Mar 12 $532.50, up $2.90 (+0.55%)
Canola May 12 $536.20, up $3.10 (+0.58%)
Canola Jul 12 $539.50, up $3.00 (+0.56%)
Canola Nov 12 $517.10, up $1.60 (+0.31%)
The previous trading day’s best basis was still $7.27 per tonne off the March contract, said the ICE Futures Canada exchange in Winnipeg.
The 14-day relative strength index was 60.
Western Barley Mar 12 $212.00, unchanged
Western Barley May 12 $216.00, unchanged
Milling Wheat Oct 12 $265.00, up $1.00 (+0.38%)
Milling Wheat Dec 12 $269.50, up $1.00 (+0.37%)
Milling Wheat Mar 13 $274.50, down $1.00 (-0.36%)
Durum Wheat Oct 12 $269.00, down $1.00 (-0.37%)
Durum Wheat Dec 12 $273.50, down $1.00 (-0.36%)
Durum Wheat Mar 13 $278.50, down $1.00 (-0.36%)
Barley Oct 12 $180.00, unchanged
Barley Dec 12 $184.00, unchanged
Barley Mar 13 $185.50, unchanged
Chicago (per bushel)
Soybeans Mar 12 $12.32, down 1.0 cent (-0.08%)
Soybeans May 12 $12.41, down 1.0 (-0.08%)
Soybeans Nov 12 $12.4125, up 2.25 (+0.18%)
Corn Mar 12 $6.4225, down 2.0 (-0.31%)
Corn May 12 $6.485, down 2.75 (-0.42%)
Corn Dec 12 $5.7525, down 6.0 (-1.03%)
Oats Mar 12 $3.2775, up 0.75 (+0.23%)
Oats May 12 $3.17, down 3.75 (-1.17%)
Oats Dec 12 $3.215, up 0.5 (+0.16%)
Minneapolis (per bushel)
Spring Wheat Mar 12 $8.385, down 2.5 cents (-0.30%)
Spring Wheat May 12 $8.2575, down 1.0 (-0.12%)
Spring Wheat Dec 12 $7.9075, down 4.75 (-0.60%)
Nearby light crude oil in New York gained $1.50 to settle at $98.41 a barrel.
The Canadian dollar at noon was$1.0052 US, up from $1.0046 the previous trading day. The U.S. dollar at noon was 99.48 cents Cdn.
The Toronto Stock Exchange composite unofficially closed down 47.43 points, or 0.38 percent, at 12,512.42.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 33.07 points, or 0.26 percent, at 12,878.20. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index climbed 2.72 points, or 0.20 percent, at 1,347.05. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 2.09 points, or 0.07 percent, at 2,904.08.
