By Phil Franz-Warkentin, MarketsFarm
WINNIPEG, Oct. 30 (MarketsFarm) – The ICE Futures canola market was weaker at Monday’s close after trading to both sides of unchanged in choppy activity. The largest losses were in the nearby November contract as participants exited the front month ahead of its expiry.
Losses in Chicago soybeans and soymeal accounted for some of the spillover selling pressure, with crude oil, European rapeseed and Malaysian palm oil also down on the day. Meanwhile, soyoil held onto small gains.
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Scale-down demand from domestic crushers provided some underlying support, as crush margins remain historically wide. However, canola continues to face competition in the global market and exporter interest was said to be relatively quiet.
There were an estimated 38,864 contracts traded on Monday, which compares with Friday when 37,561 contracts traded. Spreading accounted for 26,912 of the contracts traded.
SOYBEAN futures at the Chicago Board of Trade were weaker on Monday, taking back Friday’s gains as sharp losses in soymeal spilled over to weigh on the market.
Soymeal was thought be looking very overbought from a chart standpoint, with improving weather forecasts out of Argentina also weighing on prices.
Dryness in parts of Brazil was reportedly slowing soybean seeding, with planting progress at 40 per cent slightly behind the year-ago pace, according to reports out of the country. However, Brazilian agricultural regions were also forecast to see more moisture, which should aid seeding progress going forward.
Positioning ahead of Wednesday’s interest rate announcement from the United States Federal Reserve was another feature.
Weekly U.S. soybean export inspections hit 1.9 million tonnes, which was down from 2.6 million the previous week.
CORN futures also saw a correction lower to start the week, as seasonal harvest pressure and the improving South American forecasts weighed on values.
Weekly export inspections data showed just over 531,000 tonnes of U.S. corn was shipped during the past week, taking the year-to-date total to 4.9 million tonnes. That compares with 4.2 million at the same time a year ago.
WHEAT was mixed, with losses in Chicago soft wheat and a steadier tone in the Minneapolis and Kansas City hard red wheat contracts.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture will release the first condition rating estimates for the country’s winter wheat crop later in the day, with pre-report expectations for a relatively favourable reading.
U.S. exporters shipped 189,000 tonnes of wheat during the past week, which was up from the previous week. However, year-to-date movement of 7.1 million tonnes was still well off the previous year’s pace.
