Glacier FarmMedia MarketsFarm — The ICE Futures canola market regained some strength on Wednesday despite mixed sentiment in comparable oils.
European rapeseed and Malaysian palm oil were up. However, crude oil made small gains and Chicago soyoil was slightly lower.
At mid-afternoon, the Canadian dollar was up less than one-tenth of a United States cent compared to Tuesday’s close, but traded above the 75 U.S. cent mark for the first time since August.
There were 43,684 canola contracts traded on Wednesday, which compares with Tuesday when 33,537 contracts changed hands. Spreading accounted for 30,540 of the contracts traded.
Read Also
North American grain/oilseed review: Canola ends down, but off session lows
Glacier FarmMedia — ICE Futures canola market was weaker on Wednesday but finished well off its session lows after uncovering…
The March CORN contract at the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) declined for the third straight session on Wednesday for the first time since late November. The contract also hit a new low of US$4.6825 per bushel during the day.
The United States Energy Information Administration ethanol production for the week ended Dec. 15 averaged 1.071 million barrels per day, down 3,000 from the previous week. Ethanol stocks increased by 806,000 barrels at 22.9 million.
Crop consultant Dr. Michael Cordonnier raised his estimate for 2023-24 Argentine corn production by one million tonnes at 53 million, 19 million more than the previous year’s harvest.
Brazil has overtaken the U.S. as China’s number-one supplier of corn for 2023, with 40 per cent of China’s 22.18 million tonnes of imports coming from the South American country. U.S. corn made up 29 per cent of the total. In November alone, Brazilian corn imports to China totalled 3.22 million tonnes.
The March SOYBEAN contract hit a two-month low of US$13.1125/bu. on Wednesday, while also being in the red on consecutive days for the first time in a week.
Chinese soybean imports from Brazil in November more than doubled from one year ago at 5.29 million tonnes. However, U.S. soybean imports were down 30 per cent to 2.3 million. This calendar year, Brazil shipped 64.97 million tonnes of soybeans to China, up 25 per cent from last year, while the U.S. sent 20.36 million, down eight per cent.
Brazil will increase its domestic biodiesel blend rate from 12 per cent to 14 per cent in March and then to 15 per cent in 2025. The country will also immediately suspend biofuel imports.
European Union soybean imports so far in 2023-24 were steady compared to the previous year at 5.17 million tonnes as of Dec. 17. Soymeal imports were down 11 per cent at 6.83 million.
The March contracts for all three major U.S. WHEAT varieties were down by at least 10 U.S. cents per bushel, but they maintained sideways trade over the past week.
Prior to the release of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s monthly World Agricultural Supply/Demand Estimates on Jan. 12, analysts at its Risk Management Agency projected 2023 winter wheat acres could be between two million to three million fewer than last year.
Argus Media projected French soft wheat area to be 4.24 million hectares, the country’s lowest level since 2000 due to heavy rains.
Egypt has reportedly booked 480,000 tonnes of Russian wheat via international tender.
