By Phil Franz-Warkentin
Glacier FarmMedia MarketsFarm – The ICE Futures canola market moved within a wide range on Tuesday, with the bias higher at the closing bell.
Gains in Chicago soyoil and weakness in the Canadian dollar contributed to the strength in canola, with that combination helping crush margins improve. End user demand was thought to picking up at these lower price levels.
However, any attempts at moving higher were being met by increased farmer selling, with large amounts of unpriced canola still sitting in the countryside. Losses in Chicago soybeans also tempered the advances in canola.
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ICE Midday: Canola making small gains
Glacier FarmMedia – Canola futures on the Intercontinental Exchange were slightly higher in the middle of Friday trading, continuing their choppy…
There were an estimated 63,207 contracts traded on Tuesday, which compares with Monday when 62,940 contracts traded. Spreading was a feature, accounting for 49,782 of the contracts traded.
SOYBEAN futures at the Chicago Board of Trade were weaker on Tuesday, seeing a correction after Monday’s gains in rangebound activity.
Monthly United States inflation data beat expectations, with consumer prices up by 3.1 per cent in January on an annual basis. While the CPI cooled to its lowest reading since June, average pre-report guesses were closer to 2.9 per cent and the data was seen as adding to ideas that the U.S. Federal Reserve would be unlikely to cut interest rates any time soon – which weighed on the grains and oilseeds.
The advancing Brazilian harvest remained another bearish influence in the background. However, anecdotal reports out of the country continued to point to disappointing yields after an adverse growing season, with many private analysts lowering their production estimates.
Soybeans in Argentina are still in their filling stage, with good rains in the forecast this week.
CORN hovered just above contract lows, attempting to see some consolidation.
Ideas that area seeded to Brazil’s second corn crop could come in below earlier expectations provided some support, as the economics of growing corn are looking less favourable for farmers there.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s agriculture department expects corn seedings in the country to be down by nine per cent on the year.
WHEAT was lower across the board, with adjustments to the spreads between the three U.S. wheat contracts behind some of the activity.
Texas winter wheat was pegged at 42 per cent good-to-excellent, which was down four points from the last report.
France’s ag department lowered their estimate on soft wheat area to 10.77 million acres, which would be down by 7.7 per cent on the year.
