WINNIPEG – The ICE Futures canola market had its worst day in months on Thursday, while following the lead of vegetable oils.
Chicago soyoil and European rapeseed both had major downturns, while Malaysian palm oil was also in the red. However, crude oil moved upward.
Statistics Canada (StatCan) released its first survey-based seeding intentions report for 2023-24 on Wednesday, showing that it expects Canadian canola acres to total 21.6 million, a 0.9 per cent increase from last year.
At mid-afternoon, the Canadian dollar was up more than one-tenth of a United States cent compared to Wednesday’s close.
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About 30,758 canola contracts were traded on Thursday, which compares with Wednesday when 33,728 contracts changed hands. Spreading accounted for 17,274 of the contracts traded.
CORN had its worst day in nine months as the July contract fell below the US$6 per bushel mark on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT).
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reported 400,000 tonnes of corn were sold for export for the week ended April 20, up 28 per cent from the previous week. However, the USDA also announced this morning the cancellation of a 233,000-tonne sale of old crop corn to China.
U.S. corn planting and growing conditions are wet and cool in parts of the U.S. Midwest, but other areas are expected to progress very soon.
While also suffering losses, SOYBEAN prices held up well by comparison to corn and wheat.
The USDA announced today that export sales for the week ended April 20 totalled 311,300 tonnes, well above last week’s totals. More than 453,000 tonnes of soybeans were exported during the week, bringing the season’s total to 46.72 million tonnes, on pace with last year.
The USDA also reported more than 153,000 tonnes of soymeal were sold for export this week, as well as 100 tonnes of soyoil.
WHEAT prices took a tumble on Thursday with spring wheat taking the largest losses.
The USDA reported more than 155,000 tonnes of old crop wheat export sales, as well as 202,000 tonnes of new crop for the week ended April 20.
Rains in Kansas, Oklahoma and parts of Texas are putting pressure on U.S. wheat prices.
The USDA’s ag attaché in Australia is estimating the country’s 2023-24 wheat crop at 29 million tonnes, which would be down from the record 39.2 million tonnes grown in 2022-23. Exports are forecast to drop by seven million tonnes on the year to 23 million.
