By Dave Sims and Phil Franz-Warkentin
Winnipeg, April 27 – The ICE Futures Canada canola market finished weaker on Monday, weighed down by a stronger Canadian currency.
The strength of the Canadian dollar made canola, relative to its US counterpart, less attractive to international buyers.
Some seeding has already begun in certain portions of Western Canada which was bearish for prices while Malaysian palm oil was weaker which contributed to the losses.
However, strength in soybeans and European rapeseed futures underpinned the market while some traders were also covering shorts, said a trader.
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Last week’s Statistics Canada acreage report, which indicated farmers will only plant 19.4 million acres of canola, was supportive.
Farmer selling is slow and snowfall in Saskatchewan will limit field-work, which was bullish.
Supplies are generally easy to find, said the trader.
“No major issues regarding supply, everything’s fairly comfy I think,” he said.
Around 15,604 canola contracts were traded on Monday, which
compares with Friday when around 18,941 contracts changed hands.
Milling wheat, barley and durum were all untraded.
CORN futures in Chicago were down by two to five cents per bushel on Monday, hitting fresh six-month lows in the process.
The good spring planting weather across the Midwest accounted for much of the selling pressure, as producers should continue to make good headway seeding this year’s crop.
Ongoing concerns over a bird flu outbreak in the US were also weighing on values, given expectations for declining demand from the poultry sector.
Oversold price sentiment and some end user bargain hunting did help temper the declines, as corn values dipped to their lowest levels in six months.
SOYBEAN futures at the Chicago Board of Trade were narrowly mixed on Monday, with gains in the nearby contracts and a softer tone in the new crop months.
The USDA reported an export sale of 158,000 tonnes of old crop US soybeans to ‘unknown destinations,’ which contributed to the firmer tone in the front months.
However, the large South American crop and expectations for a big US crop did remain bearish for soybeans overall, keeping the market narrowly rangebound. Losses in corn and wheat also put some spillover pressure on beans.
SOYOIL settled narrowly mixed on Monday.
SOYMEAL futures were slightly firmer on Monday.
WHEAT futures in Chicago were down by 13 to 15 cents per bushel on Monday, as the improving moisture conditions across the southern US Plains weighed on values. Minneapolis and Kansas City wheat contracts were down by six to 11 cents per bushel.
Good crop weather in other wheat growing regions of the world, including Ukraine and Russia, contributed to the selling pressure.
Favourable planting weather for spring wheat in the northern tier states was also bearish, while a lack of significant export demand weighed on prices as well, as US wheat remains expensive in the global market.
– European wheat futures also fell to their lowest levels in six months, with good weather being reported in both France and Germany.
– India’s wheat crop could be down sharply this year due to heavy rains and hailstorms, according to an official with a major processor in the country, ITC. Ltd., who pegged the crop at 87.9 million tonnes. That would be down from the record 95.9 million grown the previous year.
