Nearby canola rose on Thursday but new crop dipped.
A weaker loonie provided some support, as did continuing concern about tight old crop supplies. New crop suffered on a report of a bigger than expected Brazilian soybean crop.
Soybeans fell on a stronger U.S. dollar and the news from Brazil. The old crop fall was limited by another weekly report showing stronger than expected U.S. soybean exports and talk that Brazil will have trouble quickly exporting its crop.
March canola closed at $647.40, up $9.20. November closed at $559.90, down 60 cents.
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Feed Grains Weekly: Price likely to keep stepping back
As the harvest in southern Alberta presses on, a broker said that is one of the factors pulling feed prices lower in the region. Darcy Haley, vice-president of Ag Value Brokers in Lethbridge, added that lower cattle numbers in feedlots, plentiful amounts of grass for cattle to graze and a lacklustre export market also weighed on feed prices.
Weekly U.S. corn exporters were weak, the lowest in a month.
Weekly U.S. wheat exports were at the low end of the range of expectations.
• Brazil’s government today pegged the soybean crop at a record 83.4 million tonnes, up 0.8 percent from 82.7 million tonnes in January.
It sees the corn crop at 76 million tonnes, up from 72.2 million a month ago. The figure is well above USDA’s current forecast of 71 million tonnes.
• The Buenos Aires Grains Exchange today pegged Argentina’s soy crop at 50 million tonnes. That is well below the January USDA forecast of 54 million tonnes.
•USDA will update its outlooks for South American production and domestic supply and demand on Friday at noon eastern time.
• Canadian cash feed barley prices have risen a lot since mid January.
According to daily elevator prices monitored by Alberta Canola Producers Commission, the average Lethbridge barley fell to $235.65 per tonne Jan. 14. At the end of January it had risen to about $240 and then on Feb. 4 jumped about $20 to just shy of $260.
What prompted the jump Feb. 4 is not clear. There was no action in the moribund ICE Futures Canada barley contact. Corn futures did not jump higher that day, although they had rallied through January before stalling out and falling this month.
On Feb. 5 Statistics Canada said stocks of barley as of Dec. 31 were 5.09 million tonnes, within the range of pre report forecasts but a little less than the average.
Last year at the same time there were 5.48 million tonnes in storage. In 2010-11 there were 5.73 million and in 2009-10 were 7.55 million tonnes.
So stocks are pretty tight and the price needs to be strong enough to ration demand.
High feed costs have encouraged the feeding of peas and lentils, reducing their stock levels Dec. 31 to a point lower than what had been expected.
Winnipeg ICE Futures Canada (per tonne)
Canola Mar 13 $647.40, up $9.20 +1.44%
Canola May 13 $627.50, up $3.30 +0.53%
Canola Jul 13 $612.10, up $0.50 +0.08%
Canola Nov 13 $559.90, down $0.60 -0.11%
Milling Wheat Mar 13 $291.00, unchanged
Milling Wheat May 13 $294.00, unchanged
Milling Wheat Jul 13 $296.00, unchanged
Milling Wheat Oct 13 $296.00, unchanged
Durum Wheat Mar 13 $312.40, unchanged
Durum Wheat May 13 $316.40, unchanged
Durum Wheat Jul 13 $319.40, unchanged
Durum Wheat Oct 13 $304.70, unchanged
Barley Mar 13 $241.50, unchanged
Barley May 13 $242.50, unchanged
Barley Jul 13 $243.00, unchanged
Barley Oct 13 $243.00, unchanged
Chicago (per bushel)
Soybeans (P) Mar 13 $14.8675, down 0.75 cents -0.05%
Soybeans (P) May 13 $14.7325, down 4.0 -0.27%
Soybeans (P) Jul 13 $14.6225, down 6.25 -0.43%
Soybeans (P) Aug 13 $14.315, down 8.0 -0.56%
Soybeans (P) Sep 13 $13.7425, down 9.0 -0.65%
Soybeans (P) Nov 13 $13.24, down 12. -0.90%
Corn (P) Mar 13 $7.1075, down 11.75 -1.63%
Corn (P) May 13 $7.12, down 12.0 -1.66%
Corn (P) Jul 13 $7.0175, down 13.0 -1.82%
Corn (P) Sep 13 $5.8925, down 14.25 -2.36%
Corn (P) Dec 13 $5.665, down 12.25 -2.12%
Oats (P) Mar 13 $3.815, up 3.75 +0.99%
Oats (P) May 13 $3.7175, down 5.0 -1.33%
Oats (P) Jul 13 $3.6975, down 5.5 -1.47%
Oats (P) Sep 13 $3.69, down 5.5 -1.47%
Oats (P) Dec 13 $3.71, down 0.75 -0.20%
Minneapolis (per bushel)
Spring Wheat Mar 13 $8.3925, down 5.5 cents -0.65%
Spring Wheat May 13 $8.515, down 6.25 -0.73%
Spring Wheat Jul 13 $8.605, down 7.25 -0.84%
Spring Wheat Sep 13 $8.63, down 6.5 -0.75%
Spring Wheat Dec 13 $8.675, down 7.25 -0.83%
The loonie lost about a third of a cent, with the Bank of Canada noon rate at $1.0007 US, down from $1.004 on Wednesday.
The U.S. buck was 99.92 cents Cdn.
Nearby crude oil in New York fell 79 cents to $95.83 per barrel.
Equity markets were lower on several reports that showed the North American economy is still fragile and growth is tentative. Also the European Central Bank warned about weak euro zone economies and about how the recent strength in the euro was hurting weak southern Europe economies.
The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index fell 5.67 points, or 0.04 percent, finishing at 12,755.92.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 43.00 points, or 0.31 percent, closing at 13,943.52.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index dropped 2.81 points, or 0.19 percent, to 1,509.31.
The Nasdaq Composite Index was off 3.34 points, or 0.11 percent, at 3,165.13.
