By Phil Franz-Warkentin, MarketsFarm
WINNIPEG, Sep. 14 (MarketsFarm) – The ICE Futures canola market was weaker on Thursday, dipping back below the C$800 per tonne level in the nearby November contract.
Seasonal harvest pressure and bearish technical signals contributed to the declines, with earlier gains likely seen as a selling opportunity.
Losses in outside markets also accounted for some spillover selling pressure, with Chicago soyoil, European rapeseed and Malaysian palm oil all down on the day.
Statistics Canada pegged the country’s 2022-23 canola production at 19.1 million tonnes in a report out Wednesday morning. That was down from an earlier estimate of 19.5 million tonnes, but in line with trade expectations and still well above the 13.8 million tonnes grown the previous year. An analyst described the report as a ‘non-event’ as far as the futures were concerned.
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About 29,435 canola contracts traded on Wednesday, which compares with Tuesday when 25,951 contracts changed hands. Spreading accounted for 22,048 of the contracts traded.
SOYBEAN futures at the Chicago Board of Trade were weaker on Wednesday, seeing some follow-through selling after Tuesday’s downturn.
Uncertainty over export demand going forward was also bearish for soybeans, with the looming harvest overhanging the market as well.
However, support was still coming forward from the lower-than-expected yield estimates from the United States Department of Agriculture released earlier in the week.
Canadian soybean production was estimated at 6.5 million tonnes by Statistics Canada, up slightly from the August projection of 6.4 million and the 6.3 million tonnes grown the previous year.
CORN moved lower in sympathy with soybeans, although gains in wheat did provide some support.
Weekly U.S. ethanol production of 963,000 barrels per day was down by 2.6 per cent from the previous week, and the smallest weekly level in 22 weeks. Supplies of the renewable fuel declined to a 12-week low at 22.843 million barrels.
Canadian corn production, at just under 14.9 million tonnes, was relatively unchanged from the August estimate, but about a million tonnes above last year’s production.
WHEAT was higher across the board, recovering from earlier losses with chart-based positioning a feature.
Statistics Canada raised its estimate on the size of this year’s Canadian wheat crop by about 100,000 tonnes, to 34.7 million tonnes. That would be well above the 22.3 million grown last year.
