By Phil Franz-Warkentin, MarketsFarm
WINNIPEG, Dec. 15 (MarketsFarm) – The ICE Futures canola market was lower at Thursday’s close, retreating from earlier gains as speculative positioning weighed on values.
Early losses in Chicago soyoil accounted for some selling pressure in canola, although soyoil managed to turn higher in the most active months by the close.
A weaker tone in the Canadian dollar provided some support, with solid end user demand also underpinning the canola market.
However, canola futures remain stuck in a broad sideways trading range from a chart perspective, with investors trading both sides of the market as they adjust positions ahead of the year end.
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About 26,898 canola contracts traded on Thursday, which compares with Wednesday when 36,614 contracts changed hands. Spreading accounted for 20,442 of the contracts traded.
SOYBEAN futures at the Chicago Board of Trade were weaker on Thursday, with chart-based positioning a feature as the market took back Wednesday’s gains.
Disappointing monthly crush data added to the bearish tone in beans. The National Oilseed Processors Association reported that 179.1 million bushels were processed in the United States in November. That was down from the same month a year ago and below even the low end of trade guesses ranging from 180 million to 183 million.
Weekly U.S. soybean export sales of 2.9 million tonnes came in above the high end of trade estimates, providing some support. However, a small net reduction was reported for soyoil with meal at the lower end of expectations.
Rains in dry regions of Argentina and Brazil were also bearish, although more moisture will be needed, with the persistent drought in Argentina slowing seeding operations there.
CORN moved higher, finding support from solid export demand.
Weekly U.S. corn export sales of 959,000 tonnes were on the high end of expectations, with an additional 101,600 tonne flash sale to Mexico also announced this morning.
Monthly ethanol data showed production of 1.061 million barrels per day during the past week, with stocks of the renewable fuel up slightly at 24.409 million barrels
WHEAT was also supported by good export movement, with weekly U.S. wheat export sales surpassing trade expectations at nearly 470,000 tonnes.
The Rosario Grain Exchange lowered their forecast for Argentina’s wheat crop to only 11.5 million tonnes, which would be a million tonnes below the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s current projection.
