By Terryn Shiells and Dave Sims, Commodity News Service Canada
WINNIPEG, May 13 – ICE Futures Canada canola contracts finished higher on Tuesday, with the nearby July contract seeing the sharpest gains amid ideas that old crop canola remains cheap compared to other oilseeds, analysts said.
Commercials were also buying old crop to cover their needs in case there is a problem with the 2014/15 (Aug/Jul) Canadian canola crop, brokers added.
Concerns about the late spring causing planting delays in Western Canada were also bullish, as was slow farmer selling as they focus on fieldwork and seeding.
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Further support came from the advances seen in outside oilseeds, including Chicago soybean and soyoil futures, as well as the weaker Canadian dollar.
However, the large Canadian canola supply situation limited the advances.
Ideas that there is still plenty of time to get the Canadian canola crop planted this spring were also bearish.
About 29,260 canola contracts were traded on Tuesday, which compares with Monday when 18,020 contracts changed hands.
Milling wheat, durum and barley futures were untraded, though the exchange adjusted wheat prices after the close Tuesday.
SOYBEAN futures at the Chicago Board of Trade ended seven to 18 cents per bushel higher after a USDA report, released late Monday afternoon, showed strong demand for existing inventories.
Approximately 240,000 tonnes of soybeans were inspected last week, which is twice the number inspected the week before, according to the USDA. Since September 1, a total of 41.7 million tonnes of soybeans have been inspected for shipment overseas, up from 34.2 million tonnes the year before.
Limited soybean planting is getting underway across the southern Midwest, according to a report.
SOYOIL futures were higher following soybeans.
SOYMEAL futures rose on ideas of strong demand.
CORN futures in Chicago rose two to three cents per bushel on Tuesday after a report from the US Department of Agriculture showed strong demand for domestic inventories.
According to the USDA, 1.2 million metric tonnes of corn was marked for overseas delivery in the week through May 8. That brings the total amount of corn inspected since September 1 to 30.4 MMT, which compares to 12.7 MMT during the same time-frame a year earlier.
Despite rains in the Midwest on Sunday, analysts believe most fieldwork should be complete by the end of the week.
WHEAT futures in Chicago were four to five cents lower Tuesday as traders liquidated long positions after the USDA supply/demand report on Friday indicated US wheat was too expensive.
Other exporters, such as Russia and parts of Europe, have had better growing conditions this year and are much cheaper to buy from, according to an analyst.
Spring wheat planting in the US remains behind schedule but soil moisture is improving after recent rains, according to a report.
• Rising demand for noodles, cakes and cookies could spur wheat imports by Indonesia to grow by as much as 10 million tonnes a year, according to officials at an international bank.
• Thousands protest in the Gilgit region of Pakistan over rising wheat prices, according to a report.
• Kazakhstan plans to boost grain exports to Iran and China this marketing year in a bid to reduce its reliance on ports in Russia and Ukraine.
ICE Futures Canada settlement prices are in Canadian dollars per metric ton.
