By Dave Sims and Phil Franz-Warkentin, Commodity News Service Canada
Winnipeg, January 18 – THE ICE Futures Canada canola market chalked up solid gains on Wednesday, due to action in the Canadian currency.
The Canadian dollar was nearly a cent lower relative to its US counterpart, which made canola more attractive to foreign buyers.
Fears that flooding in Argentina could reduce world soybean supplies also buoyed canola.
Basis levels in the country are improving, according to a trader in Winnipeg.
Gains in CBOT soybeans were bullish.
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However, slight losses in some vegetable oils undermined prices.
Warm temperatures on the Canadian Prairies are expected to increase farmer selling.
Milling wheat, barley and durum were untraded.
About 23,081 canola contracts traded on Wednesday which compares with Tuesday when 25,439 contracts changed hands. Spreading accounted for about 11,222 of the contracts traded.
Settlement prices are in Canadian dollars per metric tonne.
SOYBEAN futures at the Chicago Board of Trade were up four to 12 cents per bushel on Wednesday, as ongoing South American weather concerns provided support.
Heavy rains in Argentina have cut into soybean production by as much as three to four million tonnes, according to some reports.
Supportive technical signals contributed to the gains, as the nearby charts remain pointed higher.
However, scale-up hedges limited the advances.
SOYOIL futures settled narrowly mixed on Wednesday.
SOYMEAL futures were up on Wednesday, seeing some follow-through buying interest after Tuesday’s rally.
CORN futures in Chicago held near unchanged on Wednesday, although the bias was lower with prices down by about half a cent per bushel in most months.
Losses in wheat put some spillover pressure on corn.
Technical selling, as corn neared key resistance levels, also kept the market from seeing the same strength as soybeans.
WHEAT futures in Chicago were down by one to two cents per bushel on Wednesday, amid ideas that recent gains were overdone. However, Minneapolis and Kansas City contracts were both up on the day.
A strong US dollar, large world supplies, and poor export demand all weighed on wheat.
However, spreading between the three US wheat markets saw traders buying Minneapolis spring wheat and selling in the other markets.
