By Glen Hallick, MarketsFarm
Glacier Farm Media MarketsFarm – Intercontinental Exchange canola futures closed slightly lower on Monday in trading that saw the nearby contracts either side of steady. At one point the July contract broke through its support level of C$600 per tonne but reclaimed some its lost ground.
An analyst noted July’s next support level would then be around C$585/tonne. He said canola is now more competitive with other oilseeds, which should help to bring back lost exports such as those to Japan and Mexico.
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Sharp losses in Chicago soybeans and European rapeseed, more modest declines in soymeal, along with little movement in soyoil put pressure on the Canadian oilseed. Gains in crude oil tried to stem further losses in the vegetable oils.
Prospects for good crops across the Prairies along with farmers still holding large stocks of canola weighed on the oilseed’s values.
The Canadian dollar reversed course and was climbing higher by mid-afternoon Monday with the loonie at 72.87 U.S. cents compared to Friday’s close of 72.72.
There were 49,745 contracts traded on Monday, compared to the 59,889 contracts that changed hands on Friday. Spreading accounted for 25,266 contracts traded.
Prices are in Canadian dollars per metric tonne:
Price Change Canola Jul 605.30 dn 0.10 Nov 624.30 dn 0.10 Jan 630.30 dn 1.20 Mar 633.40 dn 2.90
SOYBEAN futures at the Chicago Board of Trade were weaker on Monday, based on good crop conditions.
The United States Department of Agriculture is scheduled to release its crop progress report at 3 pm Central.
The USDA reported export inspections of soybeans for the week ended June 13 improved to 334,237 tonnes. The year-to-date reached 40.88 million tonnes but remained far behind the year ago of 49.02 million.
The U.S. National Oilseed Processors Association said the soybean crush came to new May record of 183.63 million bushels compared to trade expectations for 178.35 million. Soyoil stocks tallied 1.72 billion pounds versus market guesses of 1.78 billion.
With the Juneteenth holiday coming up, trading will cease after the close on Tuesday and is scheduled to resume Wednesday evening.
CORN futures were lower on Monday while holding off the sharper declines experienced by soybeans and wheat.
Reports said U.S. farmers are hanging on to their corn due to sagging prices, despite little indication those prices will improve anytime soon.
The USDA reported corn export inspections of 1.29 million tonnes, slightly lower than a week ago. At 40.41 million tonnes the year-to-date stayed far ahead the 31.93 million this time last year.
AgRural placed the Brazil safrinha corn harvest in the country’s center-south region at 21 per cent complete as of June 13. With a gain of 11 points on the week, it marked the fastest start to the harvest since 2013. Meanwhile, Safras and Mercado put Brazil’s overall safrinha harvest at nine per cent finished.
China began an anti-dumping investigation into imported pork from the European Union. This came after the EU imposed restrictions on electric vehicle imports from China.
Ukraine said its 2024 harvest is underway with expectations of 28.5 million tonnes of corn.
Bird flu was found at a seventh poultry farm in Australia, but with the H7N9 strain rather than the H7N3 strain discovered at the previous farms.
WHEAT futures fell hard on Monday due to prospects of strong crop conditions.
Export inspections of U.S. wheat tallied 374,647 tonnes, a little bit more than the previous week. The year-to-date arrived at 672,453 tonnes, and higher than the 554,025 a year ago.
Antitrust regulators for the European Commission are set to issue their decision on the merger of Bunge and Viterra by July 18. The regulators can either approve the merger, order changes to the deal or deny it. Concerns are the US$34 billion conglomerate would be too large of a global company. The merger also requires regulatory approval in North America, South America and China.
Monsoon rains in India have come 20 per cent short overall of what was expected, according to the India Meteorological Department. Northwest India reported a 68 per cent drop, with central India down 29 per cent, the northeast is 20 per cent short while the south is up 17 per cent.
Ukraine’s harvest is projected to produce 21 million tonnes of wheat and five million of barley.
