By Phil Franz-Warkentin, Commodity News Service Canada
Winnipeg, April 30 (CNS Canada) – ICE Futures Canada canola contracts settled mixed on Monday, with losses in the front months and gains in the more deferred positions.
Supportive chart signals and a lack of significant farmer selling helped underpin canola throughout the session. Good weather across the Prairies was said to be limiting hedge pressure, as farmers are focused on seeding and other spring field work.
However, a downturn in Chicago Board of Trade soybeans and soyoil put some pressure and canola values. Ideas that actual Canadian canola acres will still end up hitting a new record this year, despite last week’s smaller Statistics Canada projection, also weighed on values. Large old crop supplies are still overhanging the market as well.
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About 9,599 canola contracts traded on Monday, which compares with Friday when 18,485 contracts changed hands. Spreading accounted for 2,610 of the contracts traded.
SOYBEAN futures at the Chicago Board of Trade settled lower on Monday, with chart-based selling a feature as speculators booked profits on their large net long positions.
A trade delegation from the United States is heading to China this week, but ongoing concerns over future sales to the country kept some caution in the market.
Production issues in Argentina remained somewhat supportive, as the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported sales of 120,000 tonnes of U.S. soybeans to the South American country this morning.
CORN futures moved higher on Monday, as corn planting is still running behind normal across the Midwest.
While good weather allowed farmers to make some progress over the weekend, rain is back in the forecasts for later this week.
Dryness issues elsewhere in the world, including Europe and Brazil, also kept corn underpinned.
WHEAT futures were all higher, with the largest gains in Chicago soft wheat as a lack of deliveries against the May contract on the first notice day gave that market a boost.
Crop scouts are touring Kansas wheat crops this week, and traders will be following reports from the tour closely to get a better sense of yields in the major winter wheat growing state.
To the north, better weather should see spring wheat seeding moving forward, although the progress is still likely well behind normal for this time of year.
