By Phil Franz-Warkentin, MarketsFarm
WINNIPEG, Nov. 3 (MarketsFarm) – The ICE Futures canola market was stronger on Friday, seeing a continuation of Thursday’s bounce as speculative short-covering, solid end user demand, and a lack of significant farmer selling all provided support.
Gains in Chicago soybeans and European rapeseed accounted for some spillover buying interest in the Canadian oilseed, although soyoil and Malaysian palm oil were both lower.
Weekly Canadian canola exports were the largest since December 2022 at 275,900 tonnes, according to the latest Canadian Grain Commission data. That brought the crop-year-to-date total exports to 1.6 million tonnes. Weekly domestic usage, at 229,900 tonnes, were the largest in three months, bringing the 2023/24 total to 2.65 million tonnes.
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Strength in the Canadian dollar put some pressure on the canola market.
There were an estimated 31,495 contracts traded on Friday, which compares with Thursday when 41,164 contracts traded. Spreading accounted for 15,948 of the contracts traded.
SOYBEAN futures at the Chicago Board of Trade climbed sharply higher on Friday, with broad weakness in the United States dollar and speculative fund traders unwinding short positions behind some of the gains.
A rally in soymeal was also supportive, although soyoil moved lower.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced private export sales of 131,150 tonnes of soybeans to unknown destinations.
The U.S. soybean harvest is in its final stages, with about 10 per cent of the crop thought to be still in the field.
Argentina has not yet started planting their next soybean crop, but recent rains should be beneficial.
CORN futures were due for a correction after hitting their lowest levels in nearly four years, moving up in sympathy with soybeans. Chart-based positioning was a feature amid ideas recent losses were overdone.
However, the underlying fundamentals remained somewhat bearish, and soft export demand tempered the advances.
Improving moisture conditions for corn in Argentina also kept a lid on the upside. Corn seeding was estimated to be about a quarter complete in the country, although dryness in Brazil may hamper the second corn crop there.
WHEAT was higher across the board, boosted by pre-weekend positioning.
While recent rains in Argentina have improved the prospects for soybeans and corn in the country, the moisture may have come too late for developing wheat crops. The Buenos Aires Grain Exchange lowered their projection for the country’s wheat crop to 15.4 million tonnes, a five per cent drop from an earlier estimate. The Rosario Grain Exchange pegs the crop at only 14.3 million tonnes.
