Canola futures slid a little lower on Friday, capping a week when the November contract fell $5.70 per tonne on a stronger loonie and harvest pressure.
Today the November contract closed at $491.60, down $2.40 or 0.47 percent, with prospects for a hot sunny weekend and rapid harvest progress.
Today’s Alberta crop report said as of Sept. 5 just over 32 percent of crops had been harvested, mostly in south and central areas, up from almost 18 percent last week. That is well in advance of the five-year average for this time of year of 22 percent.
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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.
Canola in the province was at 16 percent harvested.
It should remain dry across the Prairies in the first half of next week, but the potential for rain increases towards the end of the week, especially in northern Alberta.
It should also remain mostly dry in the Midwest through the next seven days, but there were concerns about the possibility of Hurricane Irma delivering heavy rain to the southeastern United States.
It was mostly a down day on U.S. crop markets. Traders were adjusting positions in advance of the Sept. 12 USDA monthly supply and demand report.
Soy markets have been boosted by signs of buoyant demand from China. Its soybean imports in August were a record for that month.
WHEAT
Consultancy SovEcon raised its forecast for Russia’s 2017 wheat crop by 2.2 million tonnes to a record 81.1 million tonnes, the latest in a series of upward revisions to estimates of wheat output in the Black Sea exporting region, Reuters reported.
Wheat exports from the euro zone are being hampered by the rising value of the euro against other currencies.
DURUM
The PDQinfo.ca website says cash No. 1 durum prices in southeastern Saskatchewan are $7.27 per bushel and in southwestern Saskatchewan $7.34. Around Aug. 11 they were close to $9 a bushel
The Agriculture Canada indicator No. 1 durum 13 percent price at Vancouver as of Sept 1. was $10.27 per bu. The Vancouver price has been fairly steady the last few weeks.
The indicator No. 1 Durum 12 percent protein price at St. Lawrence was not available for Sept. 1 but for Aug. 25 was $12.11
The ‘indicator price’ represent a sample of FOB asking prices for export and may not be reflective of actual selling prices.
CANOLA CRUSH
The weekly crush climbed almost eight percent to 155,144 tonnes bringing the total to date to 753,829, still about 50,000 tonnes behind last year’s pace.
Capacity use was only about 70 percent but that is not greatly surprising given the tight year-end stocks. Once additional canola has been delivered from the new crop, the crush pace should increase.
EXPORTS
Canola exports in week five to Sept. 3 were 57,800 tonnes, up about 10,000 from the week before. The total so far is 566,400 tonnes, down from 633,000 tonnes at the same time last year, according to the Canadian Grain Commission.
Wheat exports are running ahead of last year at this time with 1.645 million tonnes shipped, up from 1.287 million last year.
Durum exports are also off to a better start at 472,100 tonnes versus 246,700 tonnes last year at this point.
US EXPORTS
Reuters reported Friday morning’s USDA weekly export data showed soybeans totalled 1.16 million tonnes that topped the high end of market forecasts. Corn net export sales of 2017-18 crop were 1.48 million tonnes, and quoted net sales reductions of 358,600 tonnes for the 2016-17 marketing year that ended Aug. 31.
JOBS AND INTEREST RATES
The Bank of Canada raised its benchmark interest rate this week and expectations rose for another hike in December following today’s monthly employment report.
The Canadian economy added more jobs than expected in August, sending the unemployment rate to its lowest since the financial crisis, but part-time hiring accounted for all of the gains, data from Statistics Canada showed on Friday.
Job growth picked up to 22,200 positions last month, topping economists’ expectations for an increase of 19,000. The unemployment rate dipped to 6.2 percent from 6.3 percent, its lowest since October 2008, while the participation rate held steady.
Average hourly wages were up 1.7 percent from a year earlier, the strongest annual increase since last October.
OUTSIDE MARKETS
Crude oil fell heavily as traders expect Hurricane Irma will limit fuel use. Also refineries on the Texas gulf are still recovering from Hurricane Harvey.
Light crude oil nearby futures in New York were down $1.61 at US$47.48 per barrel.
In the afternoon, the Canadian dollar was trading around US82.34 cents, down from 82.51 cents the previous trading day. The U.S. dollar was C$1.2145.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 14.53 points, or 0.07 percent, to 21,799.31, the S&P 500 lost 3.49 points, or 0.14 percent, to 2,461.61 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 37.68 points, or 0.59 percent, to 6,360.19.
For the week, the TSX composite fell 1.4 percent, the Dow fell 0.9 percent, the S&P 500 fell 0.6 percent and the Nasdaq fell 1.2 percent.
Winnipeg ICE Futures Canada dollars per tonne
Canola Nov 17 489.70s -2.30 -0.47%
Canola Jan 18 496.30s -2.40 -0.48%
Canola Mar 18 502.80s -2.50 -0.49%
Canola May 18 505.70s -2.60 -0.51%
Canola Jul 18 506.30s -2.40 -0.47%
Milling Wheat Oct 17 233.00s -1.00 -0.43%
Milling Wheat Dec 17 236.00s -1.00 -0.42%
Milling Wheat Mar 18 243.00s -1.00 -0.41%
Durum Wheat Oct 17 281.00s -6.00 -2.09%
Durum Wheat Dec 17 285.00s -5.00 -1.72%
Durum Wheat Mar 18 289.00s +2.00 +0.70%
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 17 956-4s -6-6 -0.70%
Soybeans Nov 17 962-0s -6-6 -0.70%
Soybeans Jan 18 972-0s -6-4 -0.66%
Soybeans Mar 18 980-4s -6-6 -0.68%
Soybeans May 18 988-6s -7-0 -0.70%
Soybean Meal Sep 17 300.9s -1.5 -0.50%
Soybean Meal Oct 17 302.4s -1.8 -0.59%
Soybean Meal Dec 17 305.2s -2.0 -0.65%
Soybean Oil Sep 17 34.59s -0.49 -1.40%
Soybean Oil Oct 17 34.68s -0.50 -1.42%
Soybean Oil Dec 17 34.94s -0.49 -1.38%
Corn Sep 17 344-2s +2-4 +0.73%
Corn Dec 17 356-6s +1-4 +0.42%
Corn Mar 18 369-0s +1-2 +0.34%
Corn May 18 376-6s +1-2 +0.33%
Corn Jul 18 383-2s +1-4 +0.39%
Oats Sep 17 233-2s -1-6 -0.74%
Oats Dec 17 232-0s -1-6 -0.75%
Oats Mar 18 240-0s -1-2 -0.52%
Oats May 18 240-2s +0-2 +0.10%
Oats Jul 18 243-4s unch unch
Wheat Sep 17 413-6s +0-2 +0.06%
Wheat Dec 17 437-6s +0-4 +0.11%
Wheat Mar 18 459-2s +0-4 +0.11%
Wheat May 18 473-4s +1-4 +0.32%
Wheat Jul 18 486-6s +2-0 +0.41%
Minneapolis
Spring Wheat Sep 17 630-2s -2-4 -0.40%
Spring Wheat Dec 17 646-6s -3-0 -0.46%
Spring Wheat Mar 18 657-0s -2-2 -0.34%
Spring Wheat May 18 654-2s -2-0 -0.30%
Spring Wheat Jul 18 646-4s -1-2 -0.19%
Kansas City
Hard Red Wheat Sep 17 415-4s unch unch
Hard Red Wheat Dec 17 441-4s -0-2 -0.06%
Hard Red Wheat Mar 18 459-0s -0-2 -0.05%
Hard Red Wheat May 18 472-0s -1-0 -0.21%
Hard Red Wheat Jul 18 488-6s -1-0 -0.20%
Chicago livestock futures in US¢/pound, Pit trade
Live Cattle Oct 17 107.325s +1.100 +1.04%
Live Cattle Dec 17 112.850s +1.725 +1.55%
Live Cattle Feb 18 116.625s +1.475 +1.28%
Feeder Cattle Sep 17 147.875s +2.325 +1.60%
Feeder Cattle Oct 17 148.425s +2.275 +1.56%
Feeder Cattle Nov 17 148.225s +2.300 +1.58%
Lean Hogs Oct 17 62.150s +0.700 +1.14%
Lean Hogs Dec 17 58.900s +0.625 +1.07%
Lean Hogs Feb 18 63.750s +0.475 +0.75%
