By Phil Franz-Warkentin, MarketsFarm
WINNIPEG, April 18 (MarketsFarm) – The ICE Futures canola market was stronger on Tuesday, seeing a continuation of Monday’s rally as speculative fund traders remained on the buy side covering some of their large net short position.
Gains in Chicago soyoil provided spillover support, with European rapeseed and Malaysian palm oil also up on the day.
A storm system is expected to bring snow and rain across a large portion of Saskatchewan and Manitoba over the next few days, which will likely cause seeding delays as fields will take time to dry out. However, farmers in parts of southern Alberta may be ready to start seeding in the next week or so.
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About 39,311 canola contracts traded on Tuesday, which compares with Monday when 31,460 contracts changed hands. Spreading accounted for 27,032 of the contracts traded.
SOYBEAN futures at the Chicago Board of Trade moved higher on Tuesday, with gains in soyoil behind much of the spillover strength while a softer tone in soymeal tempered the gains.
While fund short covering was a feature in some markets on Tuesday, speculators are already heavily long in soybeans and were showing an unwillingness to add to those longs – which kept a lid on the upside.
The United States soybean crop was four per cent seeded as of this past Sunday, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. That compares with the one per cent average for this time of year.
Yesterday’s monthly crush data remained supportive, with 185.8 million bushels processed in March, according to the National Oilseed Processors Association. That was a new record for the month and two million bushels above average pre-report guesses.
CORN held onto small gains, taking some direction from soybeans.
U.S. corn plantings were eight per cent complete in the latest weekly report. That compares with the five-year average of five per cent done but was slightly below pre-report expectations.
Colder and wetter forecasts for much of the Midwest over the next few days will likely cause the pace to slow down.
WHEAT was mixed, with small gains in Chicago soft wheat and losses in the hard red wheats.
U.S. winter wheat condition ratings were left unchanged at 27 per cent good to excellent, the lowest rating for this time of year on record.
Spring wheat seeding was three per cent complete, off the seven per cent average.
Forecasters SovEcon raised their estimate for Russia’s 2023 wheat crop to 86.5 million tonnes, which would be 1.5 million tonnes above an earlier estimate.
