Glacier FarmMedia MarketsFarm – On the final trading day before Christmas, the January ICE Futures canola contract closed higher, while the deferreds were on both sides of unchanged before ending the day lower.
Chicago soyoil and Malaysian palm oil were down, while European rapeseed was up. Crude oil, meanwhile, was steady.
At mid-afternoon, the Canadian dollar was steady compared to Thursday’s close.
The Canadian Grain Commission reported the country exported 171,200 tonnes of canola during the week ended Dec. 17, the highest volume in seven weeks. However, the cumulative 2023-24 total of 2.42 million tonnes is down 28 per cent from last year’s pace.
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The ICE Futures canola market will be closed on Dec. 25 and 26 for Christmas Day and Boxing Day respectively, before re-opening on Dec. 27.
There were 21,450 canola contracts traded on Friday, which compares with Thursday when 33,225 contracts changed hands. Spreading accounted for 12,002 of the contracts traded.
For the first time in two-and-a-half weeks, the March CORN contract at the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) on Friday made gains for the second-straight session. However, it still hovered around December lows.
The United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) projected drought conditions to slowly expand across most of the U.S. Corn Belt in its latest three-month weather outlook.
The Buenos Aires Grain Exchange (BAGE) reported Argentina’s corn planting progress at 59 per cent, compared to 49 per cent last week and the 62 per cent five-year average. So far, 90 per cent of the corn that has already emerged is in good to very good condition.
SOYBEANS halted a three-day slide as they entered positive territory on Friday. The January contract still finished the day below US$13 per bushel, but the deferreds were all above the mark.
According to the BAGE, 69 per cent of Argentina’s soybean crop was planted. The amount was up eight points from last week, but 11 points below the five-year average. In total, 16.7 million hectares were planted, 100,000 more than last year, while 91 per cent of the crop is growing in adequate to optimal humidity.
Rain is expected in northern and central Brazil in the coming days. Private estimates expect the country’s soybean crop to be between 153 million tonnes and a record-breaking 161 million.
The March Chicago WHEAT contract made modest gains for the second-straight day. However, the March Kansas City hard red wheat contract stuck to a recent alternating pattern of gains and losses, being down on Friday. The March Minneapolis spring wheat contract was unchanged.
Canada exported 366,000 tonnes of wheat last week, up slightly from the week before. Cumulative exports this marketing year totalled 8.27 million tonnes, up 9.4 per cent from last year’s pace.
Heavy rains caused Germany’s winter wheat planting area to be cut 7.3 per cent from last year at 2.6 million hectares.
Argentina’s wheat harvest was 65 per cent complete, compared to 55 per cent last week and 78 per cent last year. The country’s wheat production is expected to be 14.7 million tonnes.
The CBOT will be closed on Dec. 25 for Christmas Day before resuming trade on Dec. 26.
