By Phil Franz-Warkentin
Glacier FarmMedia MarketsFarm – The ICE Futures canola market was weaker on Wednesday, as an attempt at moving higher ran into resistance and prices dipped with outside markets.
Chicago soyoil, European rapeseed and Malaysian palm oil futures all down on the day.
Bearish chart signals contributed to the declines in canola, with the path of least resistance said to be still pointing lower for the time being.
Scale-down demand from domestic crushers remained supportive on the other side, as crush margins remain wide and domestic usage is running well ahead of the year ago level.
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There were an estimated 41,741 contracts traded on Wednesday, which compares with Tuesday when 48,425 contracts traded. Spreading accounted for 31,172 of the contracts traded.
SOYBEAN futures at the Chicago Board of Trade were weaker on Wednesday seeing a continuation of Tuesday’s selloff.
Forecasts calling for much needed rain in some dry areas of Brazil weighed on prices, although the longer-range outlook remains hot and dry.
A move by Argentina to devalue its currency relative to the United States dollar was also being followed closely, with increased exports a likely consequence. Adjustments to the Argentina’ soybean export tariffs are also possible.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced private export sales of 125,000 of U.S. soybeans to unknown destinations this morning, providing some support.
CORN futures were also pressured by the improving South American weather forecasts, with sharp losses in wheat another bearish influence.
Monthly U.S. ethanol data showed a small decrease in daily production of the renewable fuel, now at 1.074 million barrels per day. However, supplies grew by 661,000 barrels to 22.1 million barrels.
WHEAT was lower across the board, with chart-based positioning a feature after Tuesday’s gains.
After making large purchases all last week, China has been absent from the U.S. wheat export market this week, although their recent demand will show up in tomorrow’s export report.
Ukraine’s wheat crop was pegged at 20.2 million tonnes by private analysts, which would be down by nine per cent on the year. Data from the country’s agriculture ministry shows that wheat exports of 6.3 million tonnes during the marketing year-to-date are running about a million tonnes behind last year’s pace.
