CNS Canada — Canadian canola processors are running at close to full capacity, despite any softness in crush margins, with the weekly crush hitting its largest level ever, according to the latest data from the Canadian Oilseed Processors Association (COPA).
The weekly canola crush hit 188,081 tonnes during the week ended Wednesday, topping the previous record, hit just one week earlier, of 185,219 tonnes.
The weekly crush has consistently topped 150,000 tonnes over the 2015-16 crop year, which would compare with the previous year when processors crushed an average of 141,000 tonnes per week.
Read Also
Feed Grains Weekly: Price likely to keep stepping back
As the harvest in southern Alberta presses on, a broker said that is one of the factors pulling feed prices lower in the region. Darcy Haley, vice-president of Ag Value Brokers in Lethbridge, added that lower cattle numbers in feedlots, plentiful amounts of grass for cattle to graze and a lacklustre export market also weighed on feed prices.
Capacity utilization during the week ended Wednesday climbed to 91.1 per cent, with year-to-date (YTD) capacity utilization running at 82.3 per cent.
Processors have crushed 5.126 million tonnes of canola during the crop YTD, which compares with 4.543 million at the same point the previous year.
With 4-1/2 months to go in the current crop year, the processors are on pace to set a new yearly crush record. Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada currently forecasts the domestic crush for the year at 8.1 million tonnes.
Domestic crush margins, currently at about $88 above the nearby May futures, are down by about $10 over the past month, but in line with the levels seen at the same point a year ago, according to ICE Futures Canada data.
— Phil Franz-Warkentin writes for Commodity News Service Canada, a Winnipeg company specializing in grain and commodity market reporting.
