By Dave Sims and Phil Franz-Warkentin, Commodity News Service Canada
Winnipeg, Mar 20 – THE ICE Futures Canada canola market recorded minor gains to start the week, following advances in Chicago Board of Trade soyoil.
The Canadian dollar was about a tenth of a cent weaker relative to its US counterpart, which helped support canola.
Farmer selling was slow and funds are thought to be short in the market.
“We could be stuck in this range-bound choppy action ahead of the (March 31 USDA planting intentions) report,” a trader in Winnipeg said.
Read Also
Canadian Financial Close: Loonie unchanged, crude oil surges
Glacier FarmMedia | MarketsFarm – The Canadian dollar was unchanged on Friday but ended the week more than four-tenths of a United…
However, weakness in Malaysian palm oil limited the advances.
Large supplies from South America continue to stream onto the market which undermined values.
Around 16,813 canola contracts were traded on Monday, which
compares with Friday when around 21,528 contracts changed hands. Spreading accounted for about 10,878 of the contracts traded.
Milling wheat, barley and durum were all untraded.
Settlement prices are in Canadian dollars per metric tonne.
SOYBEAN futures at the Chicago Board of Trade were narrowly mixed at Monday’s close, settling within half a cent of unchanged in the most active contracts.
Solid export demand and ideas the market was looking oversold provided some early support, according to participants.
Weekly US soybean export inspections of 737,000 tonnes were above average trade estimates, but still not that large overall.
South American harvest pressure weighed on prices, with nearly two-thirds of Brazil’s crop now harvested.
SOYOIL futures were higher on Monday, with spreading against soymeal behind some of the buying interest.
SOYMEAL futures were lower on Monday.
CORN futures in Chicago were down by 2 to 4 cents per bushel on Monday, with large South American crops behind some of the weakness.
Reports Brazil was contemplating an import tariff on ethanol were also bearish, as that would cut into demand for US supplies of the corn-based fuel.
Weekly US corn export inspections of 1.3 million tonnes were in line with trade expectations, although the year-to-date total is still running behind the USDA forecast.
WHEAT futures in Chicago were down by five to six cents per bushel, as forecasts calling for some much needed rain across the dry southern US Plains weighed on values.
Chart-based selling contributed to the softer tone, as the technical signals remain relatively bearish.
However, relatively solid export demand helped limit the losses. Weekly US wheat export inspections topped trade expectations, at 624,000 tonnes.
