Canola fell on Friday, pressured by weaker soybeans and crude oil, which were weakened by a report of slow growth in China’s manufacturing sector.
Palm oil prices, weakened by slow exports, also weighed on canola.
Private forecaster Informa Economics raised its Brazilian soybean estimate to 84.5 million tonnes from 84 million. It kept is forecast for Argentina’s soybean harvest steady at 51 million tonnes.
However Brazilian commodities forecasting firm Safras e Mercado pegged the crop at 82.24 million tonnes, down 2.4 million from its previous forecast.
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USDA will update its supply and demand outlooks on Friday March 8.
March canola closed at $626.00, down $2.60. May finished at $617.60, down $7.40. November closed at $561.30, down $4.80.
For the week, the March contract fell $6, May fell $3.80 and November fell 2.30.
Malaysian palm oil futures hit a six week low Friday on weak exports.
An export tax that was temporarily lowered to encourage sales is set to rise to 4.5 percent this month.
There will be a major palm oil conference in Malaysia beginning March 4 where top industry analysts such as Dorab Mistry and James Fry will present their price outlooks.
Recent increased export demand for U.S. wheat is helping old crop wheat to rally, but gains in new crop are limited by the improved moisture situation in the hard red winter wheat area. More snow is forecast for the coming week.
Chinese factory activity in February fell to a five-month low after domestic and foreign demand slackened, an official government survey showed on Friday, missing market forecasts.
China’s domestic wheat prices are near record high as it copes with a 2012 harvest that had a lot of disease. The government said today it planned to release 1.285 million tonnes of wheat from government stores March 6-8 to try to cool prices.
It was also going to release 100,000 tonnes of rapeseed oil to free up space for new stockpiles from the new crop soon to be harvested.
Winnipeg (per tonne)
Canola Mar 13 $626.00, -$2.60, -0.41%
Canola May 13 $617.60, -$7.40, -1.18%
Canola Jul 13 $609.40, -$7.10, -1.15%
Canola Nov 13 $561.3 -$4.80, -0.85%
Milling Wheat Mar 13 $291, unchanged
Milling Wheat May 13 $294, unchanged
Milling Wheat Jul 13 $296, unchanged
Milling Wheat Oct 13 $296, unchanged
Durum Wheat Mar 13 $307, unchanged
Durum Wheat May 13 $311, unchanged
Durum Wheat Jul 13 $314, unchanged
Durum Wheat Oct 13 $299.3, unchanged
Barley Mar 13 $241.5, unchanged
Barley May 13 $242.5, unchanged
Barley Jul 13 $243, unchanged
Barley Oct 13 $243, unchanged
Chicago (per bushel)
Soybeans (P) Mar 13 $14.645, -9.75 cents, -0.66%
Soybeans (P) May 13 $14.435, -8.75, -0.60%
Soybeans (P) Jul 13 $14.2725, -8.0, -0.56%
Soybeans (P) Aug 13 $13.88, -3.75, -0.27%
Soybeans (P) Sep 13 $13.17, +0.25, +0.02%
Soybeans (P) Nov 13 $12.6125, +1.75, +0.14%
Corn (P) Mar 13 $7.2425, +4.75, +0.66%
Corn (P) May 13 $7.085, +5.0, +0.71%
Corn (P) Jul 13 $6.87, +2.25, +0.33%
Corn (P) Sep 13 $5.8425, +1.5, +0.26%
Corn (P) Dec 13 $5.5675, -0.25, -0.04%
Oats (P) Mar 13 $4.025, +10.75, +2.74%
Oats (P) May 13 $3.7975, +2.5, +0.66%
Oats (P) Jul 13 $3.7225, +1.0, +0.27%
Oats (P) Sep 13 $3.6925, +1.0, +0.27%
Oats (P) Dec 13 $3.67, +0.75, +0.20%
Minneapolis (per bushel)
Spring Wheat Mar 13 $8.1975, +20.0 cents, +2.50%
Spring Wheat May 13 $8.0525, +3.5, +0.44%
Spring Wheat Jul 13 $8.0975, +2.0, +0.25%
Spring Wheat Sep 13 $8.105, +1.75, +0.22%
Spring Wheat Dec 13 $8.15, -1.5, -0.18%
In the U.S. a measure of consumer confidence rose and manufacturing grew at the fast pace since June 2011.
The March 1 deadline for forced $85 billion in spending cuts, called sequestration, arrived without an agreement in Washington over how to lessen the blow.
The Bank of Canada noon rate for the loonie was 97.23 US, unchanged from Thursday. The U.S. dollar was $1.0285 Cdn.
The S&P/TSX composite fell 48.71 points, or 0.38 percent, to close at 12,733.12.
The Dow Jones industrial average gained 35.17 points, or 0.25 percent, to 14,089.66 at the close.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index added 3.52 points, or 0.23 percent, to 1,518.20.
The Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 9.55 points, or 0.30 percent, to 3,169.74.
For the week, the TSX rose a little less than one percent, the Dow rose 0.6 percent, the S&P 500 edged up 0.2 percent and the Nasdaq gained 0.3 percent.
