By Terryn Shiells, Commodity News Service Canada
WINNIPEG, April 7 – The ICE Futures Canada canola market ended lower on Tuesday, taking some direction from the losses seen in soybeans.
Weakness in soyoil, Malaysian palm oil and European rapeseed futures also spilled over to weigh on canola, analysts said.
The liquidation of long positions was also bearish, as traders were more willing to exit the market due to relative strength in the Canadian dollar compared to month ago levels, brokers added.
However, the need to keep weather premiums in the market limited the declines, as did worries about production problems for Europe’s rapeseed crop.
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About 14,689 contracts traded on Tuesday, which compares with Monday when 14,277 contracts changed hands. Spreading was a feature, accounting for 9,052 of the trades.
Milling wheat, durum and barley futures were all untraded and unchanged.
Chicago soybean futures ended three to eight cents US per bushel lower on Tuesday, undermined by pressure from the advancing South American soybean harvest.
The losses were also linked to reports of very large yields for some of the region’s soybean crops, according to analysts.
Ideas that planting delays for corn in the US Delta could lead to an even larger increase in US soybean acreage added to the bearish tone.
Strength in the US dollar index also weighed on values, though steady demand was underpinning prices.
SOYOIL futures finished lower, following weakness in Malaysian palm oil futures.
SOYMEAL futures were weaker, as the large global oilseed supply situation weighed on prices.
CORN futures in Chicago finished one to two cents US per bushel lower on Tuesday, taking some direction from the softer soybean market.
Slowing demand for US corn, and the large supply situation for the commodity, also undermined prices, participants noted.
Further downward pressure came from expectations of good spring planting conditions in some regions of the US Corn Belt, including Iowa.
Though, ongoing worries about delayed seeding in the US Delta region limited the declines.
WHEAT futures in the US closed lower after a day of choppy activity in the CBOT market. Values ended one to six cents US per bushel weaker in Chicago, Minneapolis and Kansas City.
Better than expected crop ratings for the US winter wheat crop were bearish, as were forecasts calling for beneficial rain in the US Plains.
On the other side, ideas that the rain in the US will be too little, too late, were providing some underlying support, traders added.
• US winter wheat crops are 44 per cent good to excellent, 40 per cent fair, and 16 per cent poor, to very poor, according to the USDA.
• There are rumours floating around that the Russian government will announce plans to either cancel or extend the wheat export tax on April 15.
• Farmers in France are expected to seed 5.18 million hectares of soft wheat this year, the largest in at least 23 years, the country’s Farm Ministry said.
ICE Futures Canada settlement prices are in Canadian dollars per metric ton.
