By Glen Hallick, MarketsFarm
Glacier Farm Media MarketsFarm – Intercontinental Exchange canola futures closed higher on Wednesday, with double-digit gains in most of the contracts.
An analyst stated the increases were due to a combination of the technical charts, fundamentals, plus weather and crop conditions on the Prairies. He noted that contracts were oversold and were due to a correction.
Added to that were upticks in Chicago soyoil, European rapeseed and Malaysian palm oil. Chicago soybeans turned lower, while soymeal remained on the downside. Choppy trading in crude oil has meant swings of support to weighing on prices.
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Statistics Canada reported the May canola crush came in at 920,432 tonnes versus 769,942 a year ago. Also, StatCan said May canola deliveries came to 1.55 million tonnes compared to one million a year ago.
Ahead of StatCan’s planted acres report tomorrow, trade guesses for canola are 21.20 million to 21.75 million compared to agency’s March estimate of 21.39 million.
While Prairie temperatures are forecast to remain in the low to mid 20 degrees Celsius, a system will bring rain across the region by the weekend.
The Canadian dollar was pulling back by mid-afternoon Wednesday with the loonie at 72.98 U.S. cents compared to Tuesday’s closed of 73.21.
There were 61,528 contracts traded on Wednesday, compared to the 43,877 contracts that changed hands on Thursday. Spreading accounted for 31,176 contracts traded.
Prices are in Canadian dollars per metric tonne:
Price Change Canola Jul 591.30 up 6.90 Nov 616.30 up 12.00 Jan 622.70 up 11.60 Mar 628.30 up 11.80
SOYBEAN futures at the Chicago Board of Trade finished lower in choppy trading on Wednesday.
The United States Department of Agriculture is set to release its planted acreage on Friday. The markets have been moving lower ahead of the reports. The average trade guess put soybean acres at 86.75 million, up from last year’s 83.60 million.
Also on Friday the USDA will publish its grain stocks as of June 1 report with soybeans to rise from last year’s 796 million bushels to the average trade guess of 962 million.
Ahead of tomorrow’s export sales report, trade guesses for soybeans were pegged at 300,000 to 600,000 tonnes of old crop and zero to 200,000 tonnes of new crop. Soymeal sales are expected to be 150,000 to 300,000 tonnes, and soyoil between zero and 26,000 tonnes.
Reports said the U.S. was importing more soybeans and soymeal from Argentina due to domestic logistical issues from flooding.
First notice day for July options is Friday.
The Argentina government said about 43 per cent of this year’s soybean crop has been sold.
CORN futures were lower on Wednesday, due to pressure from soybeans.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported ethanol production for the week ended June 21 averaged 1.04 million barrels per day, down 14,000 BPD. Ethanol stocks slipped 194,000 barrels at 23.42 million. Both figures were within trade predictions.
U.S. planted corn acres are projected to come in at 93.35 million, up 317,000 from a year ago.
Corn stocks are to be 4.87 billion bushels, for an increase of 770,000 bushels from this time last year.
Trade guesses for U.S. corn export sales are 400,000 to 1.1 million tonnes of old crop, and new crop is to come in at zero to 200,000 tonnes.
WHEAT futures were steady to lower on Wednesday, with upticks in Kansas City and Minneapolis while Chicago was unchanged.
Expectations for U.S. planted wheat acres were set at 47.66 million, of which 34.20 million is to be winter wheat along with 11.34 million of spring wheat.
Wheat stocks are predicted to be 684 million bushels, versus 550 million the previous June.
Export sales of U.S. wheat were projected to be 200,000 to 600,000 tonnes.
Ukraine placed its 2023/24 wheat exports at 18.3 million tonnes as of June 26.
Algeria issued a tender for 130,000 to 150,000 tonnes of wheat.
