North American Grain/Oilseed Review: Canola weakens, but well off session lows

By Phil Franz-Warkentin, Commodity News Service Canada

Winnipeg, Nov. 6 (CNS Canada) – ICE Futures canola contracts posted small losses on Tuesday, but finished well off their lows for the session as support held to the downside.

Bearish technical signals sent the most active January contract to a session low of C$480 per tonne in early activity, but oversold price-sentiment and an increase in end user demand helped the contract hold above that key chart point.

Declines in Chicago Board of Trade soybeans put some additional pressure on canola, although soyoil held steady.

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With the Canadian dollar also slightly softer, crush margins showing some improvement and helped temper the declines.

About 14,095 canola contracts traded, which compares with Monday when 11,484 contracts changed hands. Spreading accounted for 4,850 of the contracts traded.

SOYBEAN futures at the Chicago Board of Trade were slightly weaker on Tuesday.
The United States soybean harvest was 83 per cent complete in the latest weekly progress report. That was up 11 points from the previous week, but off the five-year average of 89 per cent done.
The ongoing trade dispute with China kept some caution in the bean market, as there have been no concrete moves towards a resolution.

The U.S. midterm elections being held Tuesday kept some caution in the grain and oilseed markets, as traders wait for the results.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture releases its latest supply/demand numbers on Thursday, and positioning ahead of that report was another feature.

CORN futures held within a cent of unchanged for most of the session, before settling with small losses.
The U.S. corn harvest was 76 per cent complete as of this past Sunday, which was only one point behind the 77 per cent average for this time of year.

WHEAT futures were stronger, finding some support from seeding delays in parts of the U.S. Plains.

Eighty-four per cent of intended winter wheat acres were in the ground as of this past Sunday, which was off the 89 per cent average for this time of year with a number of key states well behind their normal pace.
The resulting concerns that some fields may be left unseeded, if delays persist, were supportive.
Declining condition ratings for what was the ground also underpinned the wheat market, with 51 per cent of the crop rated good-to-excellent. That was down from 53 per cent the previous week.