By Terryn Shiells and Phil Franz-Warkentin, Commodity News Service Canada
Winnipeg, April 28 – ICE Futures Canada canola contracts closed mixed on Monday, with old crop values moving higher and new crop futures down slightly.
Buying sparked by the expiry of May options and spread options on Friday, April 25, helped to lift the old crop futures.
Spillover support from the gains seen in nearby Chicago soybean futures was also bullish, as were continued ideas that canola is undervalued compared to other oilseeds.
New crop values were weaker, undermined by spillover pressure from the losses seen in Chicago soyoil futures and new crop soybeans.
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A recent pickup in farmer selling and expectations that 2013/14 carryout stocks of canola will be very large were also bearish.
About 25,026 canola contracts were traded on Monday, which compares with Friday when 33,731 contracts changed hands. Spreading accounted for 21,582 of the trades.
Milling wheat, durum and barley futures were untraded following price revisions after the close on Monday.
SOYBEAN futures at the Chicago Board of Trade were mixed on Monday, with gains in the front months but losses in the more deferred positions.
Tight nearby supplies, coupled with solid end user demand, remained supportive for old crop soybeans to start the week, according to participants. Chart-based buying contributed to the gains in the front months, as prices tested resistance.
Cool and wet conditions currently slowing planting operations across the Midwest were slightly bearish as far as soybeans were concerned. Soybeans are seeded later than corn and any delays now will likely see some acreage shift out of corn and into beans instead.
SOYOIL futures were down on Monday, with positioning against soymeal behind some of the weakness.
SOYMEAL futures were stronger on Monday, as good demand and adjustments to the soyoil/meal spread provided support.
CORN futures in Chicago were steady to up one cent per bushel on Monday after trading within a narrow range throughout the session.
Concerns that cool and wet conditions were delaying seeding operations across parts of the Midwest were supportive for corn, according to traders. However, ideal seeding window has not yet passed and analysts noted that large crops were still a possibility.
WHEAT futures in Chicago settled narrowly mixed on Monday, after bouncing around both sides of unchanged in choppy activity.
Ongoing drought concerns in the Southern US Plains remained supportive for wheat, according to traders. However, better production prospects for wheat crops elsewhere in the world, including Australia and Europe, limited the impact of those concerns.
The wheat market also continues to follow news out of Ukraine closely, as the unrest there has the potential to disrupt grain movement from the region.
• Wheat production in Syria could fall to its lowest level in forty years, according to reports from the war torn and drought afflicted country. Average wheat production had come in at around 3.5 million tonnes in Syria before the war, but the crop may be less than a million tonnes in 2014, according to reports.
• The US Wheat Quality Council will be conducting a tour of winter wheat crops in the country this week, and the market will be following reports from the tour closely.
ICE Futures Canada settlement prices are in Canadian dollars per metric ton.
