By Phil Franz-Warkentin, MarketsFarm
WINNIPEG, May 3 (MarketsFarm) – The ICE Futures canola market traded to both sides of unchanged on Monday, settling with small losses after hitting fresh contract highs in overnight activity.
Chart-based positioning was a feature, as a mixed tone in the Chicago soy complex did little to provide direction.
Tight old crop supplies and uncertainty over new crop production remained supportive for canola. However, those concerns have been priced into the market for some time and overbought price sentiment pressured values.
Read Also
Canadian Financial Close: Loonie unchanged, crude oil surges
Glacier FarmMedia | MarketsFarm – The Canadian dollar was unchanged on Friday but ended the week more than four-tenths of a United…
France’s Strategie Grains lowered their estimate on the size of the European rapeseed crop by 20,000 tonnes, to 16.78 million tonnes. That would still be above the current official European Commission forecast of 16.5 million. Favourable conditions in Germany have reportedly offset damage from cold temperatures in France.
About 39,812 canola contracts traded on Monday, which compares with Friday when 22,354 contracts changed hands. Spreading accounted for 11,408 of the contracts traded.
SOYBEAN futures at the Chicago Board of Trade were mixed on Monday, with losses in the front months and a firmer tone in the new crop contracts.
Gains in corn and general strength in world vegetable oil markets provided some support for soybeans, although good seeding progress across the United States Midwest put some pressure on values.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported weekly soybean shipments of 143,000 tonnes in the last week of April. That was the lowest of the marketing year to date, but total exports were still running at a record pace.
Chinese markets will be closed most of the week for annual May labour holidays, limiting some activity in the futures.
CORN traded to both sides of unchanged, ending with gains in the most active July contract and a slightly softer tone in the more deferred positions
Solid export demand and dryness concerns for Brazil’s second corn crop provided support.
However, improving U.S. crop weather weighed on values, with farmers expected to make good seeding progress over the next week.
WHEAT futures were lower across the board, with the largest declines in the Chicago and Kansas City winter wheat contracts.
Recent moisture across the southern U.S. Plains helped crop conditions improve in the region, with more rain in the forecasts
However, the spring wheat growing areas of the northern U.S. and Canada remain on the dry side, which helped temper the declines in Minneapolis spring wheat.
