By Phil Franz-Warkentin
Glacier FarmMedia MarketsFarm – The ICE Futures canola market stronger on Friday, recovering off nearby lows to end the week.
Gains in Chicago soybeans provided some spillover support, although soyoil remained pointed lower. Concerns over declining yield prospects in parts of Western Canada, given recent heat and dryness, were also supportive. However, North American growing conditions remain relatively favourable overall.
While most technical indicators remain pointed lower, the move back above C$610 per tonne in the November contract was supportive from a chart standpoint.
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The canola market will be closed Monday for Manitoba’s Terry Fox Day holiday, with many other Canadian government and financial institutions also closed for civic holidays. Markets in the United States will trade their usual hours on Monday, with positioning ahead of the long weekend was a feature of the canola trade.
There were an estimated 43,282 contracts traded on Friday, which compares with Thursday when 47,911 contracts traded. Spreading accounted for 19,470 of the contracts traded.
SOYBEAN futures at the Chicago Board of Trade stronger on Friday, underpinned by speculative short covering as a selloff in global equity markets had investors looking for safe havens and adjusting their portfolios.
The United States Department of Agriculture announced flash sales of 202,000 tonnes of soybeans to China this morning, which was also supportive.
However, the lack of any major weather threats for the U.S. soybean crop tempered the advances. Losses in crude oil were also spilling into the soyoil market.
Crush data released Thursday showed 183.7 million bushels of soybeans were crushed in June in the U.S., coming in at the lower end of trade expectations.
CORN was thought to be due for a correction after hitting fresh contract lows on Thursday. However, like soybeans, the good U.S. crop weather kept the gains in check.
An estimated 442.3 million bushels of corn was used for ethanol production in the U.S. in June. That was in line with the year-ago level, but down from the 455.1 million bushels used the previous month.
WHEAT was underpinned by ongoing weather concerns in Europe and chart-based positioning.
France’s wheat harvest was 67 per cent complete as of this past Monday which compares with the five-year average of 84 per cent done, as untimely rains continued to cause delays. Production estimates out of the country were being revised lower, with low test weights also being reported.
Weakness in the U.S. dollar was supportive for wheat, making exports more attractive to international buyers.
