By Terryn Shiells, Commodity News Service Canada
Winnipeg, March 6 – ICE Futures Canada canola contracts moved higher on Thursday, lifted by spillover support from the gains seen in outside oilseeds, analysts said.
Chicago soybean, soyoil, Malaysian palm oil and European rapeseed futures all saw gains that spilled over to lift canola values.
Some of the price firmness was also linked to chart-based buying, as the technical bias in the market is now pointed higher, brokers said.
However, the upswing in the value of the Canadian dollar and profit taking at the highs of the day limited the gains.
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A pick up in farmer selling in Western Canada, as new crop prices are starting to look more attractive, was also bearish for canola.
About 24,228 canola contracts were traded on Thursday, which compares with Wednesday when 30,374 contracts changed hands. Spreading accounted for 15,924 of the trades.
Milling wheat, durum and barley futures were untraded and unchanged.
SOYBEAN futures closed five to 18 US cents higher a bushel higher on Thursday, as stronger than expected weekly export sales data lifted prices, analysts said.
According to the USDA, 772,700 metric tonnes of US soybeans were sold for export in 2013/14 during the week ended February 27, more than double the amount sold the week prior.
Tight supply concerns in the US and rumours of fresh export demand were also bullish, brokers added.
However, profit taking at the highs of the day helped to limit the gains, as did a recent pickup in farmer selling.
SOYOIL futures were 83 to 109 points higher, underpinned by spillover from the gains seen in Malaysian palm oil futures. Strong weekly export sales data was also bullish, traders said.
SOYMEAL futures closed US$0.40 to US$1.30 higher, finding some support from the advances seen in soybeans.
However, the advances were minimal, as downward pressure came from spreading against soyoil, market watchers said.
CORN futures were four to 11 cents US a bushel higher Thursday. Much of the strength was linked to the strong weekly export sales data.
The USDA reported that export sales for US corn totalled 1.52 million tonnes for delivery in 2013/14 during the week ended February 27.
Continued strong demand from the domestic feed and ethanol sectors in the US also underpinned the market, participants said.
However, a pickup in farmer selling following recent gains and large US corn supplies tempered the gains.
WHEAT futures in the US were up slightly, with Chicago, Kansas City and Minneapolis futures finishing half a cent to seven US cents a bushel higher.
Spillover support from the advances seen in corn futures was bullish. Positive weekly export sales data from the USDA, which showed sales for 2013/14 delivery were up 52 per cent from a week ago, further lifted prices.
However, news that political problems in Ukraine haven’t slowed exports out of the region limited the gains.
Expectations that demand for US wheat will start to slow due to recent high prices were also bearish.
• According to the USDA, 556,100 tonnes of US wheat were sold for export during the week ended February 27, up 52 per cent from the week prior.
• The logistics problems seen moving grain out of Western Canada this year would have been easier to solve if the Canadian Wheat Board was still in place, New Democrat MP Pat Martin said.
• Reports show that imports of wheat in Indonesia could increase to more than 10 million tonnes per year within the next five years due to increasing demand for wheat-based foods.
