Nov. 10 — Financial and energy markets were mixed today, with limited economic news of any kind available to give any real direction.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s crop report was a mixed bag of information. Corn production numbers, as well as end stocks and total world stocks, were decreased. U.S. bean production, end stocks and total world inventories were increased slightly, and U.S. wheat production numbers, end stocks and world inventories were also increased in this report.
Gold continues to hold at the $1,100-plus level with small gains again today.
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The .U.S dollar remained unchanged on the day; the Canadian dollar closed up 0.46 cents today at US95.31 cents.
The Dow Jones December quote closed up 22 points at 10,217 today
Crude oil closed down 38 cents a barrel today at US$79.05.
Corn closed up six to 8.6 cents a bushel today, while beans closed down one to four cents a bushel.
Wheat futures were mixed, up 4.6 cents to down 4.2 cents a bushel today. Minneapolis December wheat closed down 1.4 cents a bushel today.
Canola closed down $2-$7.40 per tonne today.
November Western barley futures closed unchanged at $175 per tonne.
Reports out of China say some compromise may have been made by the Chinese in regards to the blackleg issue affecting imports of Canadian canola.
Testing and certification that all shipments of canola from Canada are blackleg-free will still be required after Nov. 15, but if shipments are found to have blackleg they will be allowed to be unloaded at specific named ports in various Chinese provinces that are not major rapeseed-producing regions.
This may help somewhat, but at the end of the day, a lot of extra testing will be required to be done in order to ship canola to China, which means added costs that will no doubt be reflected in reduced prices back to the producer in the end.
It is currently reported that over 1.5 million tonnes of canola have been booked to be shipped to China this year. Recently, due to the blackleg issue, at least eight cargos have been confirmed to have been cancelled by Chinese buyers due to this ongoing concern — the costs of doing business and maintaining markets in a world environment.
That’s all for today. — Brian
— Brian Wittal has spent over 27 years in the grain industry, including as an elevator manager and producer services representative for Alberta Wheat Pool, a regional sales manager for AgPro Grain and farm business representative for the Canadian Wheat Board, where he helped design some of the new pricing programs. He also operates his own company providing marketing and risk management advice for Prairie grain producers. Brian’s daily commentaries focus on how domestic and world market conditions affect you directly as grain producers.
Brian welcomes feedback and information on market conditions in your area, such as current offering prices, basis levels, trucking premiums and special crops contracts. Contact Brian today.
