By Terryn Shiells and Dave Sims, Commodity News Service Canada’
WINNIPEG, July 10 – ICE Futures Canada canola contracts ended with very small gains on Thursday amid positioning ahead of Friday’s USDA supply and demand report, analysts said.
The market was caught in the middle of spillover pressure from the weakness in soybeans and support from the gains in Chicago soyoil and Malaysian palm oil.
Worries about flooding in parts of Western Canada were supportive overall, though unaffected areas were said to have good conditions for canola development.
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Traders were also being cautious as they wait to see how much damage has been done by the recent flooding.
Slow farmer selling was helping to underpin the market, though fading demand, as canola is no longer cheap compared to other oilseeds, was bearish.
About 13,378 contracts traded on Thursday, which compares with Wednesday when 18,733 contracts changed hands.
Barley futures were untraded and unchanged, while milling wheat was untraded and saw the Exchange adjust prices after Wednesday’s close. The October durum contract saw five contracts traded, with prices moving sharply higher.
SOYBEAN futures at the Chicago Board of Trade ended seven to 13 cents per bushel lower Thursday, on a volatile day of trading that saw values jump up and down.
Ideas that low prices would spur demand for US oilseeds failed to sway speculators who are still concerned about forecasts of large harvests.
The USDA is scheduled to release its Crop Production and World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates tomorrow. The pre-report estimate for old-crop ending stocks is pegged at 130 million bushels which is up from the previous forecast of 125 million bushels, according to a report.
SOYOIL futures were up, lifted by spillover support from the advances seen in Malaysian palm oil futures.
SOYMEAL futures were lower, following soybeans.
CORN futures in Chicago were five cents per bushel lower on Thursday as the pre-report estimates for old crop supplies were listed at 1.225 billion bushels. That is higher than then the previous estimate of 1.146 billion bushels.
Oversold conditions are lending some support to values, according to a report.
The weather in the Midwest is staying mostly favourable to growing conditions as there are no forecasts of extreme heat.
WHEAT futures in Chicago were two to seven cents lower on favourable weather forecasts and continued investor concern over forecasts of large global supplies.
The Hard Red Winter wheat harvest is moving north; so far the quality of the grains is said to be good.
Farmers in the Black Sea region have begun their harvest with good yields reported.
• Farmers in the United Kingdom have reportedly planted more wheat than expected for the upcoming harvest. They did so at the expense of rapeseed.
• Egypt has placed an order for 240,000 tonnes of wheat from Romania, an analyst said.
• Crimea is expected to start exporting its 2014 grain harvest very soon. The first two countries that are scheduled to receive deliveries are Saudi Arabia and Cyprus.
ICE Futures Canada settlement prices are in Canadian dollars per metric ton.
