By Jade Markus and Dave Sims, Commodity News Service Canada
Winnipeg, January 3 (CNS Canada) – ICE Futures Canada canola ended the first trading day of 2017 on a low note.
A weaker technical bias and trader-selling pressured values on Tuesday, however prices closed above C$500 a tonne, a key support level.
Losses in Chicago Board of Trade soybeans added to canola’s downside.
The US oilseed declined as competing South American supplies are expected to hit the market soon, which is bearish.
About 22,349 canola contracts traded on Tuesday, which compares with Friday when 15,755 contracts changed hands.
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Spreading accounted for about 6,674 of the contracts traded.
Milling wheat, durum and barley futures were all untraded and unchanged.
Settlement prices are in Canadian dollars per metric tonne.
SOYBEAN futures at the Chicago Board of Trade finished eight to nine cents per bushel weaker on Tuesday, as speculators reportedly liquidated long positions. The desire to square positions ahead of next week’s USDA report was behind some of the activity.
The soybean crop in South America looks very good at this point with weather conditions keeping mostly favourable.
Argentina has announced it plans to slash its soybean export tax by 0.5 percent each month for two years, which undermined prices. The move is scheduled to start in January of 2018.
SOYOIL futures ticked higher on Tuesday.
SOYMEAL futures finished lower, following soybeans.
CORN futures in Chicago ended three to four cents per bushel stronger, as rain in key growing regions of Argentina delayed planting efforts.
Ethanol stocks in the US were pegged at 840 million gallons, which was higher than traders’ estimates of 825 million gallons.
However, weakness in crude limited the gains.
WHEAT futures in Chicago finished one to two cents per bushel lower on Tuesday, weighed down by strength in the US dollar and some technical selling.
Large global stockpiles pressured the market.
US export inspection numbers were slightly below traders’ estimates, which was bearish.
However, cold temperatures in Ukraine are raising concerns over possible winterkill, which was supportive.
