Winnipeg canola futures closed mixed Tuesday in a low key trading day.
The Canadian dollar dipped early but then rose later.
Soybeans closed little changed. Soy was supported by tightening stocks and news of port strikes in rival soybean exporter Argentina.
A Ukraine crop consultancy said it expects rapeseed production in the Black Sea region will increase this year.
The May canola contract fell $1.10 to $380 per tonne on 5,825 trades. The previous day’s best basis was steady at -$7.75 per tonne off the May contract in the par region, according to the Winnipeg ICE Futures daily report. Some crushers are offering stronger basis.
The 14-day Relative Strength Index for May canola slipped to 41, according to BarChart.com. The rule of thumb is an RSI of 30 indicates an oversold market and 70 indicates overbought.
July fell 50 cents to $386 on 2,530 trades.
New crop November rose $1.30 to $388.80 per tonne on 1,902 trades.
The Canadian dollar at noon was 98.25 cents US, down from 98.11 cents at noon the previous trading day. The U.S. dollar at noon was $1.0178 Cdn.
The Winnipeg May barley contract was steady at $154 on no trades and only 11 open interest contracts. July was steady and untraded at $145. December was steady at $150.
May soybeans fell one half cent to $9.68 US per bushel. November soybeans fell 9.75 cents to $9.36 per bu.
May oats fell two cents to $2.165 per bu.
Light crude oil for May delivery rose 31 cents to $81.91 per barrel.
Workers at several grain terminals at two Argentine ports went on strike Monday, halting loading and unloading of ships. Truckers and workers at oilseed crushing plants and ports have agreed to support each other’s pay demands.
UkrAgroConsult, a Ukrainian agricultural analyst, said the rapeseed crop in the Black Sea region was likely to rise 20 percent to 4.2 million to 4.5 million tonnes. About 45 percent of that would come from Ukraine and the rest from Russia, Romania, Kazakhstan, Bulgaria and Moldova.
There was no indication as to how much of the total would be exported. Normally, almost all exportable surpluses go to the European Union’s biodiesel industry.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture releases its March seeding intentions report March 31.
