By Phil Franz-Warkentin, MarketsFarm
WINNIPEG, Feb. 15 (MarketsFarm) – The ICE Futures canola market was mixed at Wednesday’s close, with losses in the front months and gains in the more deferred positions.
A rally in Chicago soyoil and a weaker tone in the Canadian dollar provided underlying support, with wide crush margins likely keeping end users in the market.
However, broad selling pressure in many outside markets did spillover to weigh on values. Chicago soybeans, European rapeseed and Malaysian palm oil futures were all down on the day.
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About 35,709 canola contracts traded on Wednesday, which compares with Tuesday when 25,190 contracts changed hands. Spreading accounted for 25,598 of the contracts traded.
SOYBEAN futures at the Chicago Board of Trade were weaker on Wednesday, as the grains and oilseeds found themselves caught up in a broad selloff and bearish technical signals contributed to the declines.
The losses in soybeans came despite a rally in soyoil, with the bean market taking more direction from soymeal during the session.
Monthly crush data showed that 179 million bushels of soybeans were processed in the United States in January, which was below average trade guesses and down two per cent from the same month a year ago.
Soyoil supplies of 1.829 billion pounds were up slightly on the month.
Uncertain production prospects out of Argentina remained a feature in the background of the soybean market given the ongoing dryness, while excessive moisture in parts of Brazil has slowed harvest operations.
Brazil’s Agroconsult released an updated production estimate pegging the country’s soybean crop at 153 million tonnes, which would be in line with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s forecast.
CORN was also pressured lower by speculative chart-based selling on Wednesday.
U.S. ethanol producers were averaging just over a million barrels per day of production during the past week, according to the latest data, with stocks of the renewable fuel at 25.3 million barrels up by nearly a million from the previous week.
The USDA announced private export sales of 213,370 tonnes of corn to Mexico this morning.
WHEAT was lower across the board. While uncertainty over Black Sea grain movement remained a supportive feature in the background, the lack any fresh news on that front led to some profit-taking.
The agreement allowing Ukrainian grain movement through the Black Sea is set to expire in March, but Russia continues to make large sales and most traders expect wheat to flow out of the region.
