By Jade Markus and Dave Sims, Commodity News Service Canada
Winnipeg, March 31 (CNS Canada) – ICE Futures Canada canola closed lower on Friday as a slew of data from the US lived up to bearish expectations.
Canola declined with spillover pressure from the US oilseed complex ahead of the weekend.
US farmers are expected to seed a record 89.5 million acres of soybeans in 2017, according to the Prospective Plantings report from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).
The government agency’s grain stocks report was also bearish for soybeans. The USDA expects soybean stocks as of March 1 are about 13 per cent above the previous year.
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However, canola’s supply situation is more bullish than soybeans, which curbed losses.
Traders expect canola supplies could be tight moving into the spring, which is bullish.
About 20,972 canola contracts traded on Friday, which compares with Thursday when 14,144 contracts changed hands.
Milling wheat, durum and barley futures were all untraded and unchanged.
Settlement prices are in Canadian dollars per metric tonne.
SOYBEAN futures at the Chicago Board of Trade plummeted on Friday, as the USDA’s Prospective Plantings Report estimated US acreage at a higher number than expected.
The USDA predicted that farmers in the US would plant 89.5 million acres of soybeans this spring, which exceeded most analysts’ estimates of just over 88 million.
The agency also gave a bearish estimate for US soybean stocks (as of March 1), pegging them at 1.735 billion bushels. This compares to analysts’ expectations of just 1.679 billion.
SOYOIL futures fell 19 to 23 points on Friday.
SOYMEAL futures finished lower to end the week.
CORN futures in Chicago rose roughly seven cents on Friday, after the USDA pegged corn acreage in the US at nearly 90 million acres.
The prediction is lower than the 91 million acres most analysts were expecting.
However, the gains were kept in check by USDA stocks data, which shows 8.6 billion bushels were in the US as of March 1, an all-time high.
WHEAT futures in Chicago ended four to five cents higher on Friday, as the USDA’s acreage estimate was largely in line with traders’ expectations.
According to the USDA, all-wheat planting in the US will hit 46 million acres, which is four million acres less than last year.
However, the gains were capped as US wheat inventories hit 1.65 billion bushels. Most analysts had only been expecting 1.37 billion.
