By Phil Franz-Warkentin, MarketsFarm
WINNIPEG, Feb. 24 (MarketsFarm) – The ICE Futures canola market was mostly lower on Friday, after trading to both sides of unchanged in choppy activity.
While weakness in the Canadian dollar provided some underlying support, losses in Chicago soyoil and other outside markets weighed on values.
Chart-based speculative selling was a feature, as investors adjusted positions ahead of the weekend.
However, solid demand underneath the market provided some support as crush margins remain historically wide. The Canadian Grain Commission reported weekly canola exports of 190,800 tonnes, which was up five per cent from the previous week. Crop year-to-date canola exports of 4.89 million tonnes were well ahead of the 3.74 million moved by the same point the previous year.
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About 25,219 canola contracts traded on Friday, which compares with Thursday when 40,478 contracts changed hands. Spreading accounted for 16,000 of the contracts traded.
SOYBEAN futures at the Chicago Board of Trade were weaker on Friday, as strength in the United States dollar and general fund liquidation weighed on the grains and oilseeds.
Weekly U.S. soybean export sales of 544,915 tonnes were up by 20 per cent from the previous week, with year-to-date sales running 29 per cent ahead of the year ago pace.
Declining production estimates out of Argentina remained somewhat supportive. The Buenos Aires Grain Exchange cutting their forecast by 4.5 million tonnes, to 33.5 million tonnes.
CORN was down with follow-through selling after Thursday’s losses, as damage was done from a chart standpoint.
Weekly U.S. old corn export sales of 823,000 tonnes marked the first sub-million tonne week in four weeks.
The Buenos Aires Grain Exchange lowered their forecast for Argentina’s corn crop by 3.5 million tonnes, now pegging it at 41 million tonnes.
Meanwhile, planting of Brazil’s second corn crop continues to run behind normal as excessive moisture delayed the soybean harvest in some areas.
WHEAT was down sharply as bearish chart signals weighed on values, despite solid export sales.
Friday marks the one-year anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and uncertainty over grain movement from the region a feature in the background of the wheat market.
Weekly U.S. wheat export sales of 339,000 tonnes of old crop wheat were up 62 per cent from the previous week, with an additional 80,000 tonnes of new crop business also reported.
