WINNIPEG, (MarketsFarm) – Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) Futures canola contracts were lower on Thursday, after three days of gains as Chicago soyoil and European rapeseed weighed on values.
Malaysian palm oil was higher today and provided support, as did a lower Canadian dollar.
By mid-afternoon Thursday, the loonie slipped to 74.46 U.S. cents from Wednesday’s close of 74.67.
Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz commented today that the central bank’s half-point rate cut could see the economy slip over the next two fiscal quarters. Poloz made the cut to help bolster the Canadian economy in case fear towards the COVID-19 coronavirus severely erodes demand.
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“There’s really no good news out there,” commented a Winnipeg-based trader.
There were 10,999 contracts traded on Thursday, which compares with Wednesday when 31,527 contracts changed hands. Spreading accounted for 6,606 contracts traded.
Settlement prices are in Canadian dollars per metric tonne.
Price Change
Canola May 463.50 dn 3.40
Jul 471.60 dn 3.40
Nov 480.30 dn 3.60
Jan 486.30 dn 4.00
SOYBEAN futures at the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) were weaker on Thursday, as a lack of Chinese buying has instilled negativity in the markets.
On Wednesday, United States Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue predicted China will start its record purchases of U.S. agricultural goods sometime this late spring/early summer. Under the terms of the Phase One trade agreement China is expected to purchase US$40 billion of farm products from the U.S. in the deal’s first year. That’s US$13 billion more than what China has purchased from the U.S. in any given year.
The secretary’s comments were followed by a statement from China’s Ministry of Agriculture on Thursday that said the country could meet its purchase requirements. However, the markets balked at both statements and turned lower.
Perdue commented earlier this week that the Trump administration is very likely to halt further financial aid to U.S. farmers, stemming from the U.S./China trade war. A total of about US$28 billion was paid out to farmers over the last two years.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) issued its weekly export sale report on Thursday. For the week ended Feb. 27, old crop/new crop soybean sales were 346,400 tonnes, which as well under the low end of trade expectations. Soymeal registered 316,700 tonnes in export sales, which was within market predictions and soyoil came in at 43,500 tonnes and exceeded guesses.
With the USDA’s next supply and demand report scheduled for March 10, market expectations are for the U.S. soybean carryover to increase slightly to 426 million bushels.
CORN futures were lower on Thursday, caught up in the market skepticism.
The Trump administration is widely expected to cut the number of ethanol refineries eligible for the Small Refinery Exemptions (SRE). The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is reportedly working on a compensation package for those refineries that would no longer qualify for the SRE. Conversely, the eligibility reductions would in turn support corn prices.
Total export sales of corn tallied 869,200 tonnes and were within market forecasts.
Trade predictions for Tuesday’s supply and demand report believe the corn carryover will slip by 4 million bushels to 1.89 billion bushels.
WHEAT futures were steady to lower on Thursday, with Chicago firm, but declines for Kansas City and Minneapolis.
Total export sales of wheat amounted to 570,400 tonnes, which was near the high end of market expectations.
The markets believe the global wheat carry over in the next USDA supply and demand report will increase slightly to 288.47 million tonnes.
OUTSIDE MARKETS
Light crude oil nearby futures in New York was down 88 cents at US$45.90 per barrel.
In the afternoon, the Canadian dollar was trading around US74.54 cents, down from 74.67 cents the previous trading day. The U.S. dollar was C$1.3415.
Winnipeg ICE Futures Canada dollars per tonne.
Canola Mar 20 470.70s -1.20 -0.25%
Canola May 20 463.50s -3.40 -0.73%
Canola Jul 20 471.60s -3.40 -0.72%
Canola Nov 20 480.30s -3.60 -0.74%
Canola Jan 21 486.30s -4.00 -0.82%
American crop prices in cents US/bushel, soybean meal in $US/short ton, soy oil in cents US/pound. Prices are displayed with fractions (2/8, 4/8, and 6/8) instead of decimals. -2 equals .25, -4 equals .50, -6 equals .75. The “s” means it is the settlement.
Chicago
Soybean Mar 20 889-0s -9-6 -1.08%
Soybean May 20 897-0s -10-2 -1.13%
Soybean Jul 20 905-0s -10-2 -1.12%
Soybean Aug 20 906-4s -10-0 -1.09%
Soybean Sep 20 905-6s -9-2 -1.01%
Soybean Meal Mar 20 300.4s -4.8 -1.57%
Soybean Meal May 20 303.9s -5.0 -1.62%
Soybean Meal Jul 20 308.4s -4.4 -1.41%
Soybean Oil Mar 20 29.10s -0.34 -1.15%
Soybean Oil May 20 29.39s -0.35 -1.18%
Soybean Oil Jul 20 29.75s -0.30 -1.00%
Corn Mar 20 384-4s -2-4 -0.65%
Corn May 20 381-6s -3-2 -0.84%
Corn Jul 20 383-6s -2-4 -0.65%
Corn Sep 20 380-0s -2-0 -0.52%
Corn Dec 20 383-6s -1-6 -0.45%
Oats Mar 20 264-0s -0-2 -0.09%
Oats May 20 270-4s -0-2 -0.09%
Oats Jul 20 271-6s +0-4 +0.18%
Oats Sep 20 264-2s +0-4 +0.19%
Oats Dec 20 263-2s +0-4 +0.19%
Wheat Mar 20 524-2s +2-6 +0.53%
Wheat May 20 518-6s +0-4 +0.10%
Wheat Jul 20 519-4s unch unch
Wheat Sep 20 526-4s unch unch
Wheat Dec 20 537-6s -0-2 -0.05%
Minneapolis
Spring Wheat Mar 20 506-2s -9-6 -1.89%
Spring Wheat May 20 522-0s -7-2 -1.37%
Spring Wheat Jul 20 531-6s -7-0 -1.30%
Spring Wheat Sep 20 541-0s -7-0 -1.28%
Spring Wheat Dec 20 555-2s -6-6 -1.20%
Kansas City
Hard Red Wheat Mar 20 439-2s -7-0 -1.57%
Hard Red Wheat May 20 446-2s -7-0 -1.54%
Hard Red Wheat Jul 20 453-4s -6-4 -1.41%
Hard Red Wheat Sep 20 463-0s -6-0 -1.28%
Hard Red Wheat Dec 20 476-0s -6-2 -1.30%
Live Cattle Apr 20 108.650s -2.625 -2.36%
Live Cattle Jun 20 102.650s -1.875 -1.79%
Live Cattle Aug 20 103.775s -0.775 -0.74%
Feeder Cattle Mar 20 133.625s -1.225 -0.91%
Feeder Cattle Apr 20 133.650s -1.900 -1.40%
Feeder Cattle May 20 134.450s -1.975 -1.45%
Lean Hogs Apr 20 65.375s +1.075 +1.67%
Lean Hogs May 20 71.225s +0.625 +0.89%
Lean Hogs Jun 20 79.375s +0.550 +0.70%
