By Dave Sims and Phil Franz-Warkentin, Commodity News Service Canada
Winnipeg, November 24 – THE ICE Futures Canada canola market finished higher Tuesday following CBOT soyoil on the path of least resistance.
Strength in European rapeseed futures and Malaysian palm oil contributed to the gains while spreads were an active feature.
Some speculators also entered the market, said a trader, looking to make moves before the US Thanksgiving Day holiday.
“Crush margins are flat, so crushers aren’t active but specs are taking some positions off,” he said.
Read Also
Canadian Financial Close: C$ firm Friday
Glacier FarmMedia — The Canadian dollar strengthened Friday, as dovish comments out of the United States Federal Reserve weighed on…
Canola’s January contract continues to receive support at the C$460 per tonne level, added the trader.
However, the Canadian dollar was stronger relative to its US counterpart which made canola less attractive to US exporters.
Argentina’s new president has indicated the country’s export tax on soybeans may be lowered which could result in large stockpiles being dumped onto the market, which was bearish.
Around 23,839 canola contracts were traded on Tuesday, which
compares with Monday when around 24,604 contracts changed hands. Spreading accounted for 15,472 of the contracts traded.
Milling wheat and durum were untraded while 25 barley contracts changed hands.
Settlement prices are in Canadian dollars per metric ton.
SOYBEAN futures at the Chicago Board of Trade were steady to slightly lower at Tuesday’s close, with relatively favourable South American weather conditions behind some of the eventual weakness.
The prospect of increased exports from Argentina remained a bearish factor in the background as well, although any actual sales are still forthcoming.
Supportive chart signals helped underpin the soy market, while a rally in soyoil also helped limit the losses in beans.
US markets will be closed Thursday for Thanksgiving, and positioning ahead of the holiday accounted for some of the activity as many participants start to move to the sidelines already.
SOYOIL settled higher on Tuesday, with gains in outside vegetable oil markets providing some support.
SOYMEAL futures were mostly lower on Tuesday, as the product spreads saw some adjustment.
CORN futures in Chicago were down by three to four cents per bushel on Tuesday, taking some direction from the losses in wheat.
Expectations for increased exports from Argentina also weighed on corn, while positioning ahead of Thanksgiving kept values rangebound overall.
WHEAT futures in Chicago were down by seven to ten cents per bushel on Tuesday, as improving US crop ratings weighed on values.
The US winter wheat crop was rated 53% good-to-excellent in the latest weekly USDA report, which was an improvement of one percentage point from the previous week.
Large world supplies and the fact that the US continues to miss out on export opportunities added to the softer tone.
However, weakness in the US dollar index was somewhat supportive, as it should make US wheat a bit more attractive to international customers.
– Hot temperatures and a lack of rainfall has delayed wheat seeding in India, with acreage likely to end up down on the year, according to reports from the country.
– Ukraine’s grain harvest is 98 per cent complete, with 59.1 million tonnes of wheat, barley, corn, and other grains harvested as of November 23, according to the country’s agriculture minister. Total grain production for the year is forecast at 60.0 million tonnes, which would be down slightly from the 63.8 million tonnes harvested in 2014.
