By Dave Sims and Jade Markus, Commodity News Service Canada
Winnipeg, August 6 – THE ICE Futures Canada canola market finished slightly lower in light-volume trade, following losses in US soybeans.
Advances in the Canadian dollar, relative to its US counterpart, also made canola less attractive to buyers overseas.
The long-term bias has tilted to the downside, according to a report.
Traders were also positioning themselves in advance of next week’s USDA World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates Report (WASDE) which is due on August 12.
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Recent rains have alleviated dryness concerns in many parts of the Western Prairies, encouraging traders to take some of the weather premium out of the market.
However, participants were reluctant to push the market too hard, one way or the other, ahead of the release of the USDA report. That report is expected give investors the first in-field estimate of corn and soy production in the US, an analyst pointed out.
“So if you go down too far you could get stuck, and if you go up too far you could get stuck; nobody wants to trade a market like that,” said Wayne Palmer of Agri-Trend Marketing in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
The most-active November contract found support at the technically-important C$500 per tonne mark.
Gains in US soyoil and European rapeseed futures limited the losses.
Slow farmer selling was supportive while commercial activity was also extremely light, said the trader.
Milling wheat, barley and durum were all untraded.
Settlement prices are in Canadian dollars per metric ton.
SOYBEAN futures at the Chicago Board of Trade closed six to 10 cents per bushel weaker on Thursday as the US Department of Agriculture released an export report.
Last week’s soybean exports hit a marketing-year-low, with net sales reduced by 447,300 metric tonnes (MT), according to the USDA.
Market watchers attribute a generally stronger US dollar to the decline in exports.
A healthy start to the US oilseed harvest also weighed on prices.
SOYOIL prices settled stronger on Thursday following Malaysian palm oil contracts.
SOYMEAL closed weaker Thursday following soybean futures.
CORN futures closed two to three cents per bushel weaker on Thursday, also undermined by the USDA export report.
Corn exports also hit a marketing-year-low, with net sales reduced by 2,700 MT, the USDA says.
Forecasts of light rain for the US Midwest, which could improve crop conditions also weighed on prices, market watchers say.
However, an upcoming USDA monthly crop report is expected to have reduced estimates for US corn yields due to excessive moisture earlier in the growing season, which could have a bullish effect on prices in weeks to come.
WHEAT futures in Chicago closed four to five cents per bushel higher on Thursday, supported by the export report.
Wheat sales hit a marketing-year-high of 838,500 MT. That total is also up 20 per cent from the previous week and 82 per cent from the previous four-week average, says the USDA report.
Analysts attribute the gains to weaker US wheat prices.
– Market watchers say rains in North Dakota could temporarily stall wheat harvest.
– Saudi Arabia has tendered for 495,000 tonnes optional origin hard wheat for shipment in September, November, analysts say.
