By Phil Franz-Warkentin, Commodity News Service Canada
Winnipeg, March 26 (CNS Canada) – ICE Futures Canada canola contracts were stronger on Monday, as supportive chart signals kept speculators on the buy side to start the week.
Gains in Chicago Board of Trade soyoil futures and a softer tone in the Canadian dollar were also supportive, according to participants.
However, CBOT soybean futures were down on the day as traders position themselves ahead of Thursday’s United States Department of Agriculture acreage report and expectations for record large U.S. soybean seedings.
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Large old crop canola supplies and expectations for increased seeded acres this spring also served to temper the upside.
About 10,365 canola contracts traded on Monday, which compares with Friday when 16,559 contracts changed hands. Spreading accounted for 4,910 of the contracts traded.
SOYBEAN futures at the Chicago Board of Trade settled lower on Monday, retreating from earlier gains as traders squared positions ahead of the United States Department of Agriculture’s Prospective Plantings report out on Thursday.
Average trade guesses are predicting record large U.S. soybean seeding intentions of roughly 91 million acres, which would be up by nearly a million acres from last year.
However, the ongoing production concerns out of Argentina provided some support, as crop estimates continue to be revised lower.
The USDA announced export sales of 132,000 tonnes of soybeans to unknown destinations and an additional 120,000 tonnes of soybean meal to Spain.
CORN futures were lower, taking some direction from the declines in soybeans and wheat. Chart-based selling added to the softer tone, as an early attempt at moving higher uncovered some resistance.
Traders generally expect to see a reduction in U.S. corn acreage on the year, as some acres shift into soybeans instead.
The latest U.S. cattle-on-feed report, released after Friday’s close, showed the largest number in a decade, which provided some underlying support for feed grains.
WHEAT futures were lower, with the largest losses in Kansas City hard red winter wheat as forecasts call for rain in parts of the dry U.S. Plains.
The average guess for US spring wheat seedings comes in at about 11.5 million acres, which would be up by about half a million on the year.
