By Phil Franz-Warkentin
Glacier FarmMedia | MarketsFarm — The ICE Futures canola market was stronger on Friday, nearing major chart resistance as the market continued to correct off nearby lows.
The May contract gained C$41.70 per tonne over the week, finishing Friday’s session just shy of a gap on the charts between C$615 and C$617 per tonne formed when news of Chinese tariffs on canola oil and meal sparked a selloff earlier in the month.
End user bargain hunting contributed to the gains, as canola remains attractively priced on the global market.
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Chicago soyoil, European rapeseed and Malaysian palm oil futures were all stronger.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney spoke with U.S. President Donald Trump Friday morning, with both leaders describing the call as productive. However, U.S. tariffs and Canadian retaliatory measures are still slated to come into effect next week, with more negotiations promised for after the federal election.
There were 48,008 contracts traded on Friday, which compares with Thursday when 43,171 contracts changed hands. Spreading accounted for 32,420 of the contracts traded.
SOYBEAN futures at the Chicago Board of Trade started Friday’s trade under pressure but moved up in sympathy with soyoil as the day progressed. Expectations for a sizeable cut to soybean acres in the United States this spring provided support.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s prospective plantings report will be released Monday, March 31, with average trade guesses calling for a three to four million acre cut from the 87.050 million acres of soybeans seeded last year.
CORN futures traded within a few cents of unchanged, with gains in the front months and a softer tone in the new crop contracts amid expectations for increased U.S. corn acres this spring.
Average trade guesses predict U.S. corn plantings at about 94.4 million acres, which would be up about three million acres on the year.
The latest data from the U.S. Drought Monitor shows expanded drought conditions across the country’s Corn Belt, although there is some welcome precipitation in the forecast over the next week.
WHEAT was lower, as ongoing ceasefire talks between Russia and Ukraine and the likelihood of increased grain movement through the Black Sea weighed on values. The rains in the forecast for next week were also bearish for wheat, as the moisture should help alleviate some dryness concerns.
U.S. spring wheat acres are generally expected to hold steady with the 10.6 million acres seeded last year, with total U.S. wheat area expected to be within a million acres of last year’s 46.1-million-acre crop.
