Canola and all major crop futures were hammered down Monday as widescale fear gripped world markets.
“I am very bearish grain prices at these ridiculously high levels with record crops possibly coming in this fall,” said trader Michael Seery of Seery Futures in a commentary at barchart.com.
May canola closed at $619.60 down $5.80. November closed at $553.60, down $6.90.
Data showing China’s economy grew slower than expected in the first quarter of the year caused a bloodbath in copper and oil prices, as traders feared that demand for all commodities would slump. Gold prices continued their ugly swoon, falling to $1,400 per ounce for the first time in two years.
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This data gave powerful ammunition to bears, who believe that the U.S. Federal Reserve’s creative money games are finally running out of effectiveness, and that the slump of Europe will be joined by a slump in China and therefore a slump in the U.S.
If that scenario becomes true, demand for commodities will slump and there is little prospect for anything other than a bear market in commodities.
That was the driver of the fall in crop futures Monday. Crops are just another commodity asset class on a sell-off day like this, and all crops sold off.
Weather factors and demand played only residual roles in crop prices Monday, with more moisture in the U.S. but also more lateness of spring seeding in North America and Europe causing optimism and concern.
Meanwhile, skepticism about Egypt`s bountiful and unlikely crop projections made the wheat outlook friendlier.
May canola did comparatively well, falling less than one percent in value. Soybeans fell close to two percent, while many corn contracts were down over three percent. (Currency exchange explains much of the canola strength.)
Oats were down about three percent, echoing corn, but wheat was down only about one percent, with worries about freeze damage in the U.S. hard red winter wheat crop still a factor.
Winnipeg ICE Futures Canada in dollars per tonne
Canola May 2013 619.60 -5.80 n/a
Canola Jul 2013 605.20 -7.60
Canola Nov 2013 553.60 -6.90
Canola Jan 2014 552.80 -6.70
Canola Mar 2014 545.90 -6.70
Milling Wheat May 2013 292.00 unch 0.00%
Milling Wheat Jul 2013 294.00 unch 0.00%
Milling Wheat Oct 2013294.00 unch 0.00%
Durum Wheat May 2013 310.80 unch 0.00%
Durum Wheat Jul 2013 313.80 unch 0.00%
Durum Wheat Oct 2013 299.10 unch 0.00%
Barley May 2013 243.50 unch 0.00%
Barley Jul 2013 244.00 unch 0.00%
Barley Oct 2013 224.00 -10.00 n/a%
U.S. crop s in cents US per bushel, soybean meal in $US per short ton and soybean oil in cents US per lb.
Chicago
Soybeans May 2013 1395 -18 -1.27%
Soybeans Jul 2013 1356 -23.25 -1.69%
Soybeans Aug 2013 1314.25 -25 -1.87%
Soybeans Sep 2013 1248.5 -24.75 -1.94%
Soybeans Nov 2013 1206.75 -25 -2.03%
Soybeans Jan 2014 1213.25 -24.5 -1.98%
Soybean Meal May 2013 393.3 -6.9 -1.72%
Soybean Meal Jul 2013 389.5 -7.9 -1.99%
Soybean Meal Aug 2013 376.1 -8.1 -2.11%
Soybean Oil May 2013 48.18 -1.05 -2.13%
Soybean Oil Jul 2013 48.36 -1.06 -2.14%
Soybean Oil Aug 2013 48.37 -1.03 -2.09%
Corn May 2013 646.75 -11.75 -1.78%
Corn Jul 2013 628 -13.25 -2.07%
Corn Sep 2013 556.75 -20.25 -3.51%
Corn Dec 2013 532.25 -17.75 -3.23%
Corn Mar 2014 542.5 -17.75 -3.17%
Oats May 2013 368.5 -12 -3.15%
Oats Jul 2013 361.5 -11.25 -3.02%
Oats Sep 2013 359.75 -8.75 -2.37%
Oats Dec 2013 356.5 -7.5 -2.06%
Oats Mar 2014 358.25 -7.5 -2.05%
Chicago soft red winter
Wheat May 2013 693.75 -21 -2.94%
Wheat Jul 2013 699.25 -20.25 -2.81%
Wheat Sep 2013 705.75 -19.5 -2.69%
Wheat Dec 2013 719.5 -19.25 -2.61%
Wheat Mar 2014 733.25 -19 -2.53%
Minneapolis hard red spring
Spring Wheat May 2013 798 -9.75 -1.21%
Spring Wheat Jul 2013 789 -9.75 -1.22%
Spring Wheat Sep 2013 786 -9.75 -1.23%
Spring Wheat Dec 2013 794.5 -10.75 -1.33%
Spring Wheat Mar 2014 809 -8.75 -1.07%
Kansas City hard red winter
KCBT Red Wheat May 2013 732.5 -20.5 -2.72%
KCBT Red Wheat Jul 2013 739 -20.25 -2.67%
KCBT Red Wheat Sep 2013 751.25 -19.25 -2.50%
KCBT Red Wheat Dec 2013 768 -17.25 -2.20%
KCBT Red Wheat Mar 2014 782 -15.75 -1.97%
The Bank of Canada noon rate for the loonie was 97.98 cents US, down from 97.68 on Friday. The U.S. buck was $1.0206 Cdn.
Nearby crude oil in New York plunged $2.58 to $88.71 per barrel.
In early unofficial tallies:
The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index closed down 332.71 points, or 2.70 percent, at 12,004.88, hammered down by falling gold and oil prices.
The Dow Jones industrial averagefell 265.86 points or 1.79 percent, to end at 14,599.20.
The S&P 500 lost 36.48 points or 2.30 percent, to finish at 1,552.37.
The Nasdaq Composite dropped 78.46 points or 2.38 percent, to close at 3,216.49.
