November canola futures finished the week down $8.30 per tonne or two percent, with a slight gain Friday unable to make up for early week losses.
Wheat futures continued their decline on ideas that global supplies will be more than ample.
The decline in canola and wheat happened even with a week of horrible weather, with snow in Alberta and frost in that province and Saskatchewan. Large parts of Saskatchewan endured long periods of -2C or colder overnight.
There was little harvest progress during the week because of the wet, cold conditions.
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Overnight frost in Saskatchewan helped lift canola on Friday, as did rising soybean and soy oil futures, and a decline of about one cent in the loonie over the past two days.
The soy complex bounced off multi-year lows set on Thursday following the bearish USDA report that raised the production estimates for U.S. soybeans and corn to higher than expected levels.
The threat of damage from this morning’s frost and another frost chance tonight in the northern and western fringes of the U.S. corn and soybean region also lent modest support, but the damage is expected to be minimal.
Vegetable oil futures rose a little today. Palm oil in Malaysia gained almost three percent this week on recent strong exports, but gains were limited on a report that showed stocks at the end of August had risen to a 17-month high.
U.S. soy oil stocks are currently tight because of the slowdown in crush caused by the tight old crop soybean supply, but once the new crop is harvested crushers will increase production and soy oil supply will quickly become ample.
November soybeans declined 3.6 percent during the week.
The price of crude oil is not helping. Crude slumped to a two-year low this week over increasing supply and weak demand.
The Canadian Oilseed Processors Association said members crushed 134,816 tonnes of canola in the week ending Sept. 10, an increase of 10 percent over the previous week.
That represented capacity use of about 77 percent.
Last year at this point, with new crop canola not yet available and almost no old crop remaining, crushers on average were operating at only 54 percent of capacity.
Wheat futures fell all week. The USDA on Thursday raised its estimates of global wheat production and year end stocks.
September wheat contracts expired today, with CBOT September going off the board at $4.98-1/4 after touching $4.97, the cheapest spot wheat price since July 2010.
The Minneapolis spring wheat contract fell 33.5 cents or 5.5 percent this week.
Corn futures were slightly lower on Friday on pressure from falling wheat, capping their third straight weekly decline. The concern about potential frost damage in the U.S. provided modest support.
Generally we are in for continued grain price weakness for the next several weeks as harvest brings new supplies to market. The bumper U.S. crop is a heavy weight on futures, as are the large crops in the European Union and Black Sea region.
The prospect of a large South American crop also limits future gains. Brazil recently got rain, setting up a quick start to seeding once Sept. 15 arrives. That is the end of the government regulated no seeding period, implemented to reduce the risk of disease.
The USDA this week forecast Brazil’s soybean crop at a record 94 million tonnes, up three million from the August forecast.
The chances for modest grain price relief will come if the low grain prices spark an increase in demand. Also, the market should eventually start to show wider spreads for wheat protein and quality. Although there is a lot of wheat in world, there are quality problems with rain at harvest in EU and North America spring wheat region.
Winnipeg ICE Futures Canada dollars per tonne
Canola Nov 2014 413.70 +2.50 +0.61%
Canola Jan 2015 418.00 +2.20 +0.53%
Canola Mar 2015 423.50 +2.10 +0.50%
Canola May 2015 427.10 +1.50 +0.35%
Canola Jul 2015 430.40 +1.10 +0.26%
Milling Wheat Oct 2014 189.00 -5.00 -2.58%
Milling Wheat Dec 2014 196.00 -5.00 -2.49%
Milling Wheat Mar 2015 205.00 -5.00 -2.38%
Durum Wheat Oct 2014 288.80 unch 0.00%
Durum Wheat Dec 2014 294.80 unch 0.00%
Durum Wheat Mar 2015 295.80 unch 0.00%
Barley Oct 2014 123.50 -0.50 -0.40%
Barley Dec 2014 125.50 -0.50 -0.40%
Barley Mar 2015 126.50 -0.50 -0.39%
American crop prices in cents US/bushel, soybean meal in $US/short ton, soy oil in cents US/pound
Chicago
Soybeans Nov 2014 985.25 +3.75 +0.38%
Soybeans Jan 2015 992.5 +4.25 +0.43%
Soybeans Mar 2015 998.5 +4.75 +0.48%
Soybeans May 2015 1005.25 +4.5 +0.45%
Soybeans Jul 2015 1011 +4 +0.40%
Soybeans Aug 2015 1012.5 +3.5 +0.35%
Soybean Meal Oct 2014 338.5 -0.3 -0.09%
Soybean Meal Dec 2014 327.9 -1.3 -0.39%
Soybean Meal Jan 2015 324.7 -1.6 -0.49%
Soybean Oil Oct 2014 32.55 +1.05 +3.33%
Soybean Oil Dec 2014 32.77 +1.06 +3.34%
Soybean Oil Jan 2015 33.03 +1.04 +3.25%
Corn Dec 2014 338.5 -2.5 -0.73%
Corn Mar 2015 351 -2.5 -0.71%
Corn May 2015 359.5 -2.5 -0.69%
Corn Jul 2015 366.75 -2.5 -0.68%
Corn Sep 2015 374.25 -2.75 -0.73%
Oats Dec 2014 348.25 -5.5 -1.55%
Oats Mar 2015 331.25 -3.75 -1.12%
Oats May 2015 322.75 -3 -0.92%
Oats Jul 2015 319.75 -1.75 -0.54%
Oats Sep 2015 327.25 -0.75 -0.23%
Wheat Dec 2014 502.5 -7 -1.37%
Wheat Mar 2015 520 -6.25 -1.19%
Wheat May 2015 530.75 -6.5 -1.21%
Wheat Jul 2015 539 -7.5 -1.37%
Wheat Sep 2015 550 -7.25 -1.30%
Minneapolis
Spring Wheat Dec 2014 578 -14.75 -2.49%
Spring Wheat Mar 2015 593.5 -14.25 -2.34%
Spring Wheat May 2015 605.25 -13.75 -2.22%
Spring Wheat Jul 2015 605.75 -21.75 -3.47%
Spring Wheat Sep 2015 626 -10 -1.57%
Kansas City
Hard Red Wheat Dec 2014 593.25 -13 -2.14%
Hard Red Wheat Mar 2015 601.25 -12.25 -2.00%
Hard Red Wheat May 2015 606 -11.75 -1.90%
Hard Red Wheat Jul 2015 596.25 -11 -1.81%
Hard Red Wheat Sep 2015 607.25 -10.75 -1.74%
Light crude oil nearby futures in New York dropped 56 cents at $92.27 US per barrel.
The Canadian dollar at noon was 90.29 cents US, down from 90.65 cents the previous trading day. The U.S. dollar at noon was $1.1076 Cdn.
The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index closed down 2.74 points, or 0.02 percent, at 15,531.58.
For the week, the TSX composite fell 0.6 percent
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 61.49 points, or 0.36 percent, to 16,987.51.
The S&P 500 lost 11.91 points, or 0.6 percent, to 1,985.54.
The Nasdaq Composite dropped 24.21 points, or 0.53 percent, to 4,567.60.
The major Wall Street indexes posted a weekly decline after five straight weeks of gain
The Nasdaq edged down by 0.3 percent, while the Dow and the S&P 500 fell by 0.9 percent and 1.1 percent, respectively.
