By Dave Sims, Commodity News Service Canada
Winnipeg, April 9 (CNS Canada) – The ICE Futures Canada canola complex chopped around in a tight range for much of the day, before settling with small losses.
The market initially rose with speculative trading before profit-taking came in shortly before the close.
Gains in the U.S. soy complex were largely offset by strength in the Canadian dollar.
Crush margins are at their lowest levels in months and canola exports are still falling further behind last year’s pace.
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Despite today’s setback, canola prices are still quite high, which makes it expensive relative to other oilseeds.
Around 22,877 canola contracts were traded on Monday, which compares with Friday when around 32,210 contracts changed hands. Spreading accounted for 15,992 of the contracts traded.
Settlement prices are in Canadian dollars per metric tonne.
The soybean market posted solid gains on Monday in follow-through buying after Friday’s strong close.
Strength in the Chinese soybean market also helped prop up values somewhat. The United States has shipped a lot of soybeans to Europe recently, which was supportive for prices.
Most analysts estimate Brazil’s soybean crop to be around 115.6 million tonnes.
Corn ended a few cents higher on Monday, taking spillover gains from wheat and soybeans.
Ideas that planting will happen later this spring also underpinned the market.
China is preparing for a major corn auction later this week, which was bearish for values.
Wheat futures in Chicago, Minneapolis and Kansas City finished sharply higher.
Cold, snowy weather across the U.S. Plains created uncertainty over how many acres would be seeded this spring.
Russian grain exports have dropped noticeably as of late. Weekly exports were just 818,000 tonnes last week, which was the first time since February they have been below a million.
