By Terryn Shiells and Dave Sims, Commodity News Service Canada
WINNIPEG, Jan. 9 – The ICE Futures Canada canola market ended mixed after a day of choppy activity on Friday. The market was consolidating following recent gains and ahead of the weekend, according to analysts.
Position squaring ahead of Monday’s monthly USDA report also contributed to the mixed tone.
Spillover support came from the gains seen in Chicago soybean futures, while weakness in soyoil undermined values.
The large US soybean supply situation and favourable weather for South American soybean crops continued to overhang the market.
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On the other side, signs of good demand for global oilseeds, and steady commercial buying interest for canola were supportive.
The downswing in the value of the Canadian dollar was also bullish, as it made canola more attractively priced to crushers and exporters.
About 17,759 contracts changed hands on Friday, which compares with Thursday when 25,423 contracts traded. Spreading accounted for 8,326 of the trades.
Milling wheat, durum and barley were all untraded, though the Exchange adjusted wheat and barley prices after Friday’s close.
Chicago soybean futures ended two to four cents US per bushel higher after a volatile trading day on Friday. Positioning ahead of Monday’s monthly USDA crop report was a feature of the activity.
Continued strong export demand for the US commodity was helping to underpin values, analysts said.
However, generally favourable weather conditions ahead of the upcoming South American soybean harvest were overhanging the market.
SOYOIL futures were slightly weaker, undermined by profit taking on recent gains, market watchers said.
SOYMEAL futures were stronger, finding support from spreading against soyoil, participants said.
CORN futures in Chicago finished stronger on Friday, with gains of two to six cents US per bushel. Expectations that the USDA will lower their 2014/15 production figure for US corn in Monday’s report were supportive, traders said.
News that private exporters booked sales of 136,000 tonnes of US corn for delivery to South Korea this year was also bullish.
However, pre-report expectations call for large US corn stocks in Monday’s USDA report, which was limiting the gains.
WHEAT futures at the Chicago Board of Trade ended three to five cents US per bushel lower on Friday, after a very choppy trading day.
Strength in the US dollar index and slow export demand for US supplies were behind some of the weakness, brokers noted.
Ideas that cold weather didn’t cause much damage to US winter wheat crops this week were also bearish, as were forecasts calling for warmer weather in the US Midwest next week.
Though, worries about freezing weather hurting winter wheat crops in Ukraine helped to limit the declines.
• Egypt issued a tender to import 180,000 tonnes of wheat from France.
• Average pre-report guesses call for Monday’s USDA monthly crop report to show 42.564 million acres of winter wheat were seeded this fall.
ICE Futures Canada settlement prices are in Canadian dollars per metric ton.
