The vagaries of nature loomed large in the market for edible oils in recent weeks producing two compelling stories, one a boom in production, canola in Canada, and the other a disaster, coconut in the Philippines. A record canola crop in Canada, combined with a record wheat crop, strained that nation's rail transport infrastructure. Refiners struggled to secure an uninterrupted supply of seed to crush, and the logistical problems slowed the decline in the canola oil cash market, at least for nearby positions. But the weight of the crop was expected to become increasingly telling, and crude canola oil already was being offered at a discount to soybean oil for the first quarter of 2014, when hopes were rail logistics on both sides of the United States-Canada border will begin to improve.
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