By Phil Franz-Warkentin, MarketsFarm
WINNIPEG, Oct. 8 (MarketsFarm) – The ICE Futures canola market was weaker on Thursday, with speculative profit-taking and fund long-liquidation a feature.
A firmer tone in the Canadian dollar, which was up by about a third of a cent relative to its United States counterpart, also weighed on values.
Early gains in the Chicago Board of Trade soy complex provided some support for canola. However, the soy complex drifted lower as the day progressed.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture releases updated supply/demand estimates on Friday, and pre-report positioning accounted for some of the activity.
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About 17,125 canola contracts traded on Thursday, which compares with Wednesday when 34,336 contracts changed hands. Spreading accounted for 10,936 of the contracts traded.
SOYBEAN futures at the Chicago Board of Trade were lower on Thursday, retreating from earlier gains as profit-taking came forward to weigh on prices.
Weekly United States soybean export sales of 2.6 million tonnes topped trade estimates, giving the soy market an early boost.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture also announced private export sales of 374,000 tonnes of soybeans to China this morning. An additional sales of 152,000 tonnes to Mexico and 132,000 tonnes to other unknown destinations were also announced.
The USDA releases updated supply/demand estimates on Friday, and traders will be watching to see if the government agency raises its projection for exports this year.
Brazil’s CONAB released production estimates, pegging the soybean crop at a record 133.7 million tonnes. That would be up by about nine million tonnes on the year. However, there are ideas that dry conditions and a late start to seeding the crop may cut into that number.
CORN futures were also down, as traders squared positions ahead of Friday’s USDA reports.
Weekly U.S. corn export sales of 1.2 million tonnes were in line with expectations, but roughly triple what was sold during the same week the previous year.
CONAB pegged Brazil’s corn crop at 105.2 million tonnes, which would be well above the USDA’s current forecast of 101 million tonnes. Friday’s USDA report will include updates to world production numbers.
WHEAT futures were lower, as traders booked profits after recent gains.
Weekly U.S. wheat export sales came in at just over half a million tonnes.
Dry weather in both the Black Sea Region and parts of the U.S. Plains remained supportive, helping temper the declines.
