Canola futures drifted lower on Friday, wrapping up a down week for the oilseed.
November closed at $500.90 per tonne, down $3.80 on the day.
On the week, the contract fell $5.80.
Generally good harvest weather in Western Canada weighed on canola today as did lower soybean and soy oil futures.
The next seven days are expected to be mostly dry across the Prairies.
EXPORTS AND CRUSH
The crop year is still young, but canola exports are running a little ahead of last year at this point.
Read Also
U.S. grains: Soy drops on demand worries, corn firm as traders question lofty yield projections
U.S. soybean futures fell to a 1-1/2 week low on Tuesday as China continued to shun purchases from the United States and as forecasts for improved rains in the coming days reinforced expectations for a sizeable Midwest harvest.
Canola shipments to Aug. 20 total 461,300 tonnes, up from 402,000 tonnes last year at the same point.
The canola crush total to Aug. 23 is 454,704 tonnes, down from 475,517 tonnes last year.
Crushers this week were operating at only about 50 percent capacity as old crop supply is tight and not much new crop is available yet.
U.S. MARKETS
There was little movement in American markets today.
After the close, the Pro Farmer Midwest crop tour posted its findings.
It pegged the U.S. soy crop at 4.331 billion bushels, down from the August USDA forecast of 4.381 billion.
Its corn forecast was 13.953 billion bu., down from USDA’s forecast of 14.153 billion bu.
The numbers are similar enough to the USDA’s that they won’t shakeup the market much.
DURUM
Now that combines are rolling in Canada, the durum market is coming off its highs.
According to PDQinfo.ca No. 1 CWAD 13.0 protein in southeastern Saskatchewan peaked at almost $330 cash per tonne Aug. 11 and is now down to around $302.
In southwestern Saskatchewan at around the same time the peak was around $311 and the price has now fallen to about $301.
Saskatchewan Agriculture said that as of Aug. 21, 14 percent of the durum crop was harvested.
A Reuters poll of trade estimates ahead of the Statistics Canada farmer survey next week showed a range of durum production forecasts from 4.2 to 5.4 million tonnes for an average of 4.9 million.
Last year’s crop was 7.76 million.
HURRICANE HARVEY
This powerful storm is expected to deliver torrential rainfall amounts measured in feet, not inches, to the Texas Gulf coast. The region is not a major grain shipper like New Orleans, which should miss the brunt of the storm.
For now the heavy rain appears to be limited to eastern Texas and Louisiana. If some rain moves farther inland to western Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas it would likely be welcome in advance of the winter wheat planting season.
INDIA MONSOON
The summer monsoon has turned dry in key agricultural provinces of India in the last couple of weeks.
However rain is expected to pick up in these areas in the next two weeks, reviving prospects for the summer crop and helping to fill reservoirs needed for irrigation of the winter crop.
OUTSIDE MARKETS
Light crude oil nearby futures in New York were up 44 cents US$47.87 per barrel.
In the afternoon, the Canadian dollar was trading around US80.12 cents, up from 79.81 cents the previous trading day. The U.S. dollar was C$1.2481.
The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index closed 20.17 points, or 0.13 percent, lower at 15,055.99.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 30.27 points, or 0.14 percent, to end at 21,813.67, the S&P 500 gained 4.08 points, or 0.17 percent, to 2,443.05 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 5.68 points, or 0.09 percent, to 6,265.64.
For the week, the TSX gained 0.7 percent, the Dow rose 0.65 percent, the S&P 500 gained 0.72 percent and the Nasdaq climbed 0.79 percent.
Winnipeg ICE Futures Canada dollars per tonne
Canola Nov 17 500.90s -3.80 -0.75%
Canola Jan 18 506.90s -3.30 -0.65%
Canola Mar 18 511.50s -2.60 -0.51%
Canola May 18 513.00s -2.40 -0.47%
Canola Jul 18 513.50s -2.50 -0.48%
Milling Wheat Oct 17 251.00s +4.00 +1.62%
Milling Wheat Dec 17 254.00s +4.00 +1.60%
Milling Wheat Mar 18 261.00s +4.00 +1.56%
Durum Wheat Oct 17 306.00s unch unch
Durum Wheat Dec 17 307.00s unch unch
Durum Wheat Mar 18 295.00s unch unch
Barley Oct 17 145.00s unch unch
Barley Dec 17 148.00s unch unch
Barley Mar 18 151.00s unch unch
American crop prices in cents US/bushel, soybean meal in $US/short ton, soy oil in cents US/pound. Prices are displayed with fractions (2/8, 4/8, and 6/8) instead of decimals. -2 equals .25, -4 equals .50, -6 equals .75. The “s” means it is the settlement.
Chicago
Soybeans Sep 17 939-0s -2-2 -0.24%
Soybeans Nov 17 944-4s -2-0 -0.21%
Soybeans Jan 18 953-4s -1-6 -0.18%
Soybeans Mar 18 962-2s -1-6 -0.18%
Soybeans May 18 970-2s -1-4 -0.15%
Soybean Meal Sep 17 296.4s -1.2 -0.40%
Soybean Meal Oct 17 297.9s -1.1 -0.37%
Soybean Meal Dec 17 300.0s -0.9 -0.30%
Soybean Oil Sep 17 34.61s -0.17 -0.49%
Soybean Oil Oct 17 34.72s -0.18 -0.52%
Soybean Oil Dec 17 34.95s -0.18 -0.51%
Corn Sep 17 338-6s -3-2 -0.95%
Corn Dec 17 353-4s -2-6 -0.77%
Corn Mar 18 366-4s -2-2 -0.61%
Corn May 18 373-6s -1-6 -0.47%
Corn Jul 18 380-0s -1-4 -0.39%
Oats Sep 17 241-2s +2-0 +0.84%
Oats Dec 17 253-0s +0-6 +0.30%
Oats Mar 18 256-6s +1-0 +0.39%
Oats May 18 256-0s +1-6 +0.69%
Oats Jul 18 249-6s +1-2 +0.50%
Wheat Sep 17 409-4s +0-4 +0.12%
Wheat Dec 17 435-2s +0-6 +0.17%
Wheat Mar 18 458-2s +1-0 +0.22%
Wheat May 18 472-4s +0-6 +0.16%
Wheat Jul 18 485-4s +0-4 +0.10%
Minneapolis
Spring Wheat Sep 17 650-4s unch unch
Spring Wheat Dec 17 669-2s +0-4 +0.07%
Spring Wheat Mar 18 675-2s +2-2 +0.33%
Spring Wheat May 18 669-2s +2-6 +0.41%
Spring Wheat Jul 18 663-6s +3-4 +0.53%
Kansas City
Hard Red Wheat Sep 17 404-4s -1-0 -0.25%
Hard Red Wheat Dec 17 432-2s -1-0 -0.23%
Hard Red Wheat Mar 18 450-4s -1-2 -0.28%
Hard Red Wheat May 18 464-4s -1-4 -0.32%
Hard Red Wheat Jul 18 483-0s -1-0 -0.21%
Chicago livestock futures in US¢/pound, Pit trade
Live Cattle Aug 17 105.950s unch unch
Live Cattle Oct 17 106.925s +0.100 +0.09%
Live Cattle Dec 17 109.925s +0.125 +0.11%
Feeder Cattle Aug 17 141.375s -0.225 -0.16%
Feeder Cattle Sep 17 142.925s +0.750 +0.53%
Feeder Cattle Oct 17 142.950s +0.550 +0.39%
Lean Hogs Oct 17 63.075s -0.700 -1.10%
Lean Hogs Dec 17 58.950s -0.300 -0.51%
Lean Hogs Feb 18 63.800s -0.100 -0.16%
