The weak loonie continued to support canola futures Friday while stronger than expected weekly export sales lifted corn.
The weak loonie makes Canadian canola seed, oil and meal more attractive than American soy products and that has been supporting canola futures this week.
March canola closed the week at $461.50 percent, down 70 cents on the day but up $10.90 over the week.
May canola closed at $455.60, up $2.20 on the day and up $9.20 on the week.
March canola was up 2.4 percent during the week while March soybeans fell 1.9 percent. For the week, soymeal was up 1.4 percent and soyoil was down 5.3 percent.
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The loonie fell 0.2 cent today but was down 2.8 cents from last Friday, with weakness stemming from a surprise cut in the Bank of Canada lending rate and weakness in crude oil values.
Canola today was also supported by new export business and speculative buying.
Trading volume is shifting to the May contract.
Today there were more than 11,000 trades in May and 9,635 trades in March.
Some canola buyers are already using the May contract to calculate their cash and basis bids.
There appears to be fairly wide basis for nearby delivery but much narrower basis for delivery this spring.
Analyst John DePape in a posting at www.agriville.com noted today that the inverse between March and May canola contracts is not due to tight stocks in the system. It is more associated with reduced threat of delivery on the nearby contract.
In other news, Canadian crushers are scaling up to take advantage of the weaker loonie, even as canola futures rise.
The Canadian Oilseed Processors Association said members crushed 153,102 tonnes of canola in the week ending Jan. 21, up 5.3 percent from the week before and a six month high.
That represented a capacity use of 83.8 percent, exceeding the cumulative rate of 81.2 percent so far this crop year.
Despite the strong American buck, weekly export sales of U.S. corn were a robust 2.19 million tonnes, topping analysts’ forecasts that ranged from 800,000 to one million tonnes.
It was the strongest sales in a single week in seven years. That helped corn edge up today but over the week the nearby contract dipped 0.1 percent.
It was the opposite situation in soybeans, where export sales totaled only 115,300 tonnes, below forecasts ranging from 400,000 to 700,000 tonnes.
Analysts expect international buyers will start to switch to South American supplies as they become available.
Wheat export sales totaled 564,400 tonnes, beating trade expectations.
That helped to lift Minneapolis spring wheat futures slightly but Kansas hard red winter and Chicago soft red winter were lower.
For the week, the front-month CBOT soft red winter wheat contract shed 0.7 percent, its fifth straight week of losses.
Hard red winter wheat dropped 2.5 percent this week and Minneapolis spring wheat was 1.5 percent lower.
The rising U.S. dollar weighs on U.S. commodities generally.
The euro fell to fresh 11-year lows against the dollar on Friday following the European Central Bank’s announcement on Thursday that it would pump a trillion euros into the euro zone economy to revive sagging growth and ward off deflation.
Light crude oil nearby futures in New York were down 72 cents to US$45.59 per barrel.
The Canadian dollar at noon was US80.63 cents, down from US80.83 cents the previous trading day. The U.S. dollar at noon was C$1.2403.
The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index closed up 15.37 points, or 0.1 percent, at 14,779.35.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 141.38 points, or 0.79 percent, to 17,672.6, the S&P 500 lost 11.33 points, or 0.55 percent, to 2,051.82 and the Nasdaq Composite added 7.48 points, or 0.16 percent, to 4,757.88.
For the week, the TSX climbed 3.3 percent, the Dow rose 0.9 percent, the S&P 500 added 1.6 percent and the Nasdaq gained 2.7 percent. It was the first positive week for major indexes in the last four.
Winnipeg ICE Futures Canada dollars per tonne
Canola Mar 2015Â Â Â Â Â Â 461.50Â Â Â Â Â Â -0.70Â Â Â Â Â Â -0.15%
Canola May 2015Â Â Â Â Â Â 455.60Â Â Â Â Â Â +2.20Â Â Â Â Â Â +0.49%
Canola Jul 2015Â Â Â Â Â Â 448.90Â Â Â Â Â Â +1.60Â Â Â Â Â Â +0.36%
Canola Nov 2015Â Â Â Â Â Â 436.10Â Â Â Â Â Â -0.70Â Â Â Â Â Â -0.16%
Canola Jan 2016Â Â Â Â Â Â 438.00Â Â Â Â Â Â -0.10Â Â Â Â Â Â -0.02%
Milling Wheat Mar 2015      220.00      unch      0.00%
Milling Wheat May 2015      223.00      unch      0.00%
Milling Wheat Jul 2015Â Â Â Â Â Â 226.00Â Â Â Â Â Â +1.00Â Â Â Â Â Â +0.44%
Durum Wheat Mar 2015      363.00      unch      0.00%
Durum Wheat May 2015      353.00      unch      0.00%
Durum Wheat Jul 2015      343.00      unch      0.00%
Barley Mar 2015      195.00      unch      0.00%
Barley May 2015      197.00      unch      0.00%
Barley Jul 2015      199.00      unch      0.00%
American crop prices in cents US/bushel, soybean meal in $US/short ton, soy oil in cents US/pound
Chicago
Soybeans Mar 2015Â Â Â Â Â Â 972.75Â Â Â Â Â Â -4Â Â Â Â Â Â -0.41%
Soybeans May 2015Â Â Â Â Â Â 979.5Â Â Â Â Â Â -3.5Â Â Â Â Â Â -0.36%
Soybeans Jul 2015Â Â Â Â Â Â 985.25Â Â Â Â Â Â -3.5Â Â Â Â Â Â -0.35%
Soybeans Aug 2015Â Â Â Â Â Â 985.5Â Â Â Â Â Â -3.25Â Â Â Â Â Â -0.33%
Soybeans Sep 2015Â Â Â Â Â Â 971Â Â Â Â Â Â -2.25Â Â Â Â Â Â -0.23%
Soybeans Nov 2015Â Â Â Â Â Â 959.75Â Â Â Â Â Â -1.25Â Â Â Â Â Â -0.13%
Soybean Meal Mar 2015Â Â Â Â Â Â 331.5Â Â Â Â Â Â +1.4Â Â Â Â Â Â +0.42%
Soybean Meal May 2015Â Â Â Â Â Â 323.7Â Â Â Â Â Â +1.1Â Â Â Â Â Â +0.34%
Soybean Meal Jul 2015Â Â Â Â Â Â 321.9Â Â Â Â Â Â +0.7Â Â Â Â Â Â +0.22%
Soybean Oil Mar 2015Â Â Â Â Â Â 31.6Â Â Â Â Â Â -0.37Â Â Â Â Â Â -1.16%
Soybean Oil May 2015Â Â Â Â Â Â 31.79Â Â Â Â Â Â -0.37Â Â Â Â Â Â -1.15%
Soybean Oil Jul 2015Â Â Â Â Â Â 31.99Â Â Â Â Â Â -0.36Â Â Â Â Â Â -1.11%
Corn Mar 2015Â Â Â Â Â Â 386.75Â Â Â Â Â Â +3Â Â Â Â Â Â +0.78%
Corn May 2015Â Â Â Â Â Â 395.25Â Â Â Â Â Â +3.25Â Â Â Â Â Â +0.83%
Corn Jul 2015Â Â Â Â Â Â 402.75Â Â Â Â Â Â +3.5Â Â Â Â Â Â +0.88%
Corn Sep 2015Â Â Â Â Â Â 409.25Â Â Â Â Â Â +4Â Â Â Â Â Â +0.99%
Corn Dec 2015Â Â Â Â Â Â 417.25Â Â Â Â Â Â +4Â Â Â Â Â Â +0.97%
Oats Mar 2015Â Â Â Â Â Â 290.5Â Â Â Â Â Â -0.5Â Â Â Â Â Â -0.17%
Oats May 2015Â Â Â Â Â Â 294Â Â Â Â Â Â -0.75Â Â Â Â Â Â -0.25%
Oats Jul 2015Â Â Â Â Â Â 298.25Â Â Â Â Â Â -1Â Â Â Â Â Â -0.33%
Oats Sep 2015Â Â Â Â Â Â 300.5Â Â Â Â Â Â -0.5Â Â Â Â Â Â -0.17%
Oats Dec 2015Â Â Â Â Â Â 296.25Â Â Â Â Â Â -2Â Â Â Â Â Â -0.67%
Wheat Mar 2015Â Â Â Â Â Â 530Â Â Â Â Â Â -3.75Â Â Â Â Â Â -0.70%
Wheat May 2015Â Â Â Â Â Â 532.75Â Â Â Â Â Â -4.5Â Â Â Â Â Â -0.84%
Wheat Jul 2015Â Â Â Â Â Â 536.5Â Â Â Â Â Â -4.25Â Â Â Â Â Â -0.79%
Wheat Sep 2015Â Â Â Â Â Â 544.25Â Â Â Â Â Â -4.25Â Â Â Â Â Â -0.77%
Wheat Dec 2015Â Â Â Â Â Â 555.75Â Â Â Â Â Â -4.5Â Â Â Â Â Â -0.80%
Minneapolis
Spring Wheat Mar 2015Â Â Â Â Â Â 576Â Â Â Â Â Â +0.5Â Â Â Â Â Â +0.09%
Spring Wheat May 2015Â Â Â Â Â Â 582.5Â Â Â Â Â Â +0.75Â Â Â Â Â Â +0.13%
Spring Wheat Jul 2015Â Â Â Â Â Â 590.75Â Â Â Â Â Â +0.5Â Â Â Â Â Â +0.08%
Spring Wheat Sep 2015Â Â Â Â Â Â 598.5Â Â Â Â Â Â +0.75Â Â Â Â Â Â +0.13%
Spring Wheat Dec 2015Â Â Â Â Â Â 608Â Â Â Â Â Â +0.25Â Â Â Â Â Â +0.04%
Kansas City
Hard Red Wheat Mar 2015Â Â Â Â Â Â 564Â Â Â Â Â Â -0.75Â Â Â Â Â Â -0.13%
Hard Red Wheat May 2015Â Â Â Â Â Â 569Â Â Â Â Â Â -0.5Â Â Â Â Â Â -0.09%
Hard Red Wheat Jul 2015Â Â Â Â Â Â 572.25Â Â Â Â Â Â -0.75Â Â Â Â Â Â -0.13%
Hard Red Wheat Sep 2015Â Â Â Â Â Â 583.75Â Â Â Â Â Â -0.5Â Â Â Â Â Â -0.09%
Hard Red Wheat Dec 2015Â Â Â Â Â Â 598Â Â Â Â Â Â -0.5Â Â Â Â Â Â -0.08%
