By Phil Franz-Warkentin, MarketsFarm
WINNIPEG, April 7 (MarketsFarm) – The ICE Futures canola market was stronger on Thursday, taking some direction from a rally in the Chicago Board of Trade soy complex.
European rapeseed and Malaysian palm oil futures were also stronger on the day.
Tight old crop supplies and the need to ration demand, along with uncertainty over new crop production, remained supportive as well.
However, ideas that canola was looking overpriced at current levels did temper the advances, with speculative profit-taking coming forward at the highs.
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About 22,410 canola contracts traded on Thursday, which compares with Wednesday when 17,166 contracts changed hands. Spreading accounted for 13,264 of the contracts traded.
SOYBEAN futures at the Chicago Board of Trade were stronger on Thursday, as traders adjusted positions ahead of Friday’s monthly supply/demand estimates from the United States Department of Agriculture.
Good export demand contributed to the advances in soybeans. The USDA reported weekly U.S. soybean export sales of 800,000 tonnes of old crop business and an additional 298,500 tonnes for delivery in the new crop year.
Declining production estimates out of South America were also supportive. Brazil’s CONAB lowered their estimate for the country’s soybean crop to 122.4 million tonnes, down by three million from an earlier guess. They also reduced their export forecast by three million tonnes, to 77 milllion tonnes. Tomorrow’s USDA reports will include updates to South American crop projections.
Adjustments to U.S. exports and ending stocks forecasts will also be followed closely.
CORN posted small gains, lagging soybeans to the upside as losses in wheat pulled on the market from the other side.
A cool and wet start to the planting season in the eastern U.S. accounted for some of the strength, although the moisture will be good for the crop in the long run.
Weekly U.S. corn export sales came in at just under a million tonnes of old and new crop business combined, which was at the lower end of expectations.
The ongoing conflict in Ukraine underpinned prices, with corn production in the country expected to be down on a combination of reduced acres, and fertilizer shortages.
WHEAT was lower, taking back some of its recent gains.
Weekly old crop U.S. wheat export sales of 156,000 tonnes were up from the previous week, but still below expectations. New crop business though was solid at 223,000 tonnes.
The ongoing conflict in Ukraine remained a supportive influence in the wheat market.
