Drought and heat in the Midwest continued to support grain prices Tuesday but canola closed mixed with nearby up and new crop down.
We are experiencing a second day of wild weather in parts of the Prairies. Storms last night caused wind and hail damage in some areas, mostly in the western and northern grain belt.
Today, much of the farming region of Saskatchewan and parts of southern Alberta are under severe weather watches. Rain accumulations are expected to significant over the next 36 hours.
July canola closed at $631.00, up $4.70.
Read Also
U.S. livestock: CME cattle futures hit new contract highs as supplies tighten
Chicago Mercantile Exchange live and feeder cattle futures rallied to fresh contract highs on Wednesday, as tight supplies and strong cash market prices continued to send future contracts surging, market analysts said.
• Statistics Canada releases its acreage survey Wednesday morning. Traders and analysts surveyed by Reuters expect a record 20.9 million acres of canola, up from the StatsCan March prospective planting survey forecast of 20.4 million. The range of forecasts was 20.2 million to 21.7 million.
All wheat area is expected to be 23.9 million, down from StatsCan March report of 24.32 million.
Durum is expected at 4.9 million compared to 5.1 in the March StatsCan report.
The oats (3.3 million), barley (7.9 million), peas (3.4 million) and flax (1.0 million) forecasts are all similar to the StatsCan spring survey.
• Soybeans were down on profit taking after Monday’s gains. Soy matures later than corn and so it is less affected by the current dry weather.
Corn and new crop spring wheat rose. Corn was locked limit up on Monday and new crop closed up about 4.8 percent today at a seven month high.
After the market closed Monday USDA released its weekly crop condition ratings. Declines in the ratings were steeper than traders had expected. Midwest weather is expected to continue hot and dry for at least two more weeks, damaging crops further, particularly corn which is particularly vulnerable because is about to tassel.
The corn crop was rated 56 percent good to excellent as of Sunday, down seven percentage points from a week earlier. Soybeans were 53 percent good to excellent compared with 56 percent a week earlier.
• Wheat yesterday was supported by Russia’s agriculture ministry’s reduction in its wheat crop forecast to 46-49 million tonnes from 57 million expected earlier.
The wheat export estimate was cut to 16-18 million tonnes from 20 million tonnes.
Private forecaster SovEcon slashed its outlook even further, pegging wheat exports at only 11 million tonnes. However, SovEcon sees no rationing of exports this year.
Winnipeg (per tonne)
Canola Jul 12 $631.00, up $4.70 +0.75%
Canola Nov 12 $584.10, down $2.30 -0.39%
Canola Jan 13 $586.70, down $2.10 -0.36%
Canola Mar 13 $586.70, down $2.10 -0.36%
The 14-day relative strength index for the July contract was 62.
The previous day’s best basis in the par region was $14 above the July contract.
Western Barley Jul 12 $237.00, unchanged
Western Barley Oct 12 $208.00, unchanged
Milling Wheat Oct 12 $265.00, unchanged
Milling Wheat Dec 12 $272.30, unchanged
Milling Wheat Mar 13 $281.30, unchanged
Durum Wheat Oct 12 $275.50, unchanged
Durum Wheat Dec 12 $280.00, unchanged
Durum Wheat Mar 13 $286.60, unchanged
Barley Oct 12 $189.00, unchanged
Barley Dec 12 $191.70, unchanged
Barley Mar 13 $194.70, unchanged
Chicago (per bushel)
Soybeans (P) Jul 12 $14.705, down 12.0 cents -0.81%
Soybeans (P) Aug 12 $14.555, down 11.5 -0.78%
Soybeans (P) Sep 12 $14.2575, down 14.25 -0.99%
Soybeans (P) Nov 12 $14.1325, down 12.25 -0.86%
Corn (P) Sep 12 $6.18 +26.75 +4.52%
Corn (P) Dec 12 $6.225 +28.5 +4.80%
Oats (P) Jul 12 $3.5875, up 10.0 +2.87%
Oats (P) Sep 12 $3.2925, up 5.25 +1.62%
Oats (P) Dec 12 $3.27, up 10.0 +3.15%
Minneapolis (per bushel)
Spring Wheat Jul 12 $8.53, down 27.0 cents -3.07%
Spring Wheat Sep 12 $8.265, up 10.5 +1.29%
Spring Wheat Dec 12 $8.3275, up 11.5 +1.40%
Spring Wheat Mar 13 $8.3975, up 12.0 +1.45%
Nearby crude oil in New York closed at $79.36, up 15 cents.
The Bank of Canada noon rate for the loonie was 97.42 cents US, up from 97.06 the day before.
The U.S. dollar was $1.0265 Cdn.
In early tallies:
The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index closed up 4.03 points, or 0.04 percent, at 11,334.42.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 32.01 points, or 0.26 percent, to 12,534.67.
The S&P 500 Index gained 6.27 points, or 0.48 percent, to 1,319.99. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 17.90 points, or 0.63 percent, to 2,854.06.
Trade was light in advance of a European summit Thursday that is to discuss the zone’s debt problems.
