By Phil Franz-Warkentin, Commodity News Service Canada
Winnipeg, May 2 (CNS Canada) – ICE Futures Canada canola contracts settled mixed on Wednesday, with losses in the front months and gains in the new crop contracts.
Chicago Board of Trade soyoil futures recovered off of the contract lows hit earlier in the week, which provided some spillover support for canola.
A lack of significant farmer selling, as producers turn their attention to spring seeding, also underpinned the futures.
However, losses in CBOT soybeans put some pressure on values. Large old crop supplies and expectations that Canadian canola acres will end up well above the official Statistics Canada estimate also weighed on prices.
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About 18,138 canola contracts traded on Wednesday, which compares with Tuesday when 10,154 contracts changed hands. Spreading accounted for 9,126 of the contracts traded.
SOYBEANS were lower on Wednesday, with concerns over the China/United States trade dispute at the forefront of the market.
U.S. bean sales to China are reportedly non-existent right now, and many industry participants are not that optimistic that a deal will be reached any time soon despite a trade delegation on its way to the country this week.
In addition, Brazil grew a record large 117.0 million tonne soybean crop in 2017/18, topping last year’s previous record by three million tonnes, according to a report from INTL FCStone.
However, concerns over the size of Argentina’s crop remain supportive.
CORN Futures were steady to slightly lower, taking some direction from the downturn in soybeans.
FCStone pegged Brazil’s corn crop at 83.9 million tonnes, which was below the company’s earlier forecast, and well off the USDA’s working number of 92 million tonnes.
Weekly U.S. ethanol production came in at just over a million barrels, which was up slightly from the previous week. About 473 million bushels of corn were used to produce the renewable fuel in March, according to a separate report, which was up on both the month and the year.
WHEAT futures were mixed, with losses in Chicago soft wheat and gains in the Kansas City and Minneapolis contracts as the futures saw some consolidation after yesterday’s advances.
The annual Wheat Quality Council crop tour of Kansas is going on this week, and early yield estimates were confirming the concerns over dryness and poor crops in the state. After the first day, average hard red winter wheat yields were projected at about 38 bushels per acre, which would be off the 42 bushel per acre five-year average.
