By Phil Franz-Warkentin, MarketsFarm
WINNIPEG, March 10 (MarketsFarm) – The ICE Futures canola market was mixed on Thursday, with gains in the front months and losses in the new crop contracts.
Supportive chart signals and ideas that canola remains underpriced compared to other oilseeds contributed to the buying interest in the old crop contracts, as the tight supply situation means that demand still needs to be rationed.
Gains in the Chicago Board of Trade soy complex provided spillover support for canola. However, strength in the Canadian dollar and weakness in European rapeseed did put some pressure on values. Chart resistance also held to the upside.
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About 13,327 canola contracts traded on Thursday, which compares with Wednesday when 23,257 contracts changed hands. Spreading accounted for 2,392 of the contracts traded.
SOYBEAN futures at the Chicago Board of Trade moved higher on Thursday, underpinned by solid export demand.
Weekly United States soybean export sales hit a 20-week high at 2.2 million tonnes or old crop business, with an additional 895,000 tonnes of new crop sales put on the books, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Soymeal sales were also solid at 316,000 tonnes, while soyoil business came in at 16,600 tonnes.
Declining production estimates out of South American and follow-through buying after Wednesday’s monthly supply/demand report added to the firm tone.
CORN was also boosted by good export demand on Thursday.
Weekly U.S. corn export sales topped expectations at 2.1 million tonnes of old crop business. An additional 22,860 tonnes of new crop sales were also reported.
Yesterday’s tightening stocks numbers from the USDA contributed to the gains.
However, losses in crude oil and wheat put some pressure on corn values.
WHEAT was down for the third straight session, with the biggest losses in Chicago soft wheat as the market corrected off of the highs hit earlier in the week.
Weekly U.S. wheat export sales of 307,000 tonnes were up slightly on the week, but came in below trade expectations.
Yesterday’s move by the USDA to raise its forecast for world wheat ending stocks by 3.3 million tonnes, to 281.5 million tonnes, was also bearish.
The uncertainty over the conflict in Ukraine and what it will mean for the global wheat market going forward remained a feature in the background of the wheat market.
