By Dave Sims and Phil Franz-Warkentin, Commodity News Service Canada
Winnipeg, July 21 (CNS) – The ICE Futures Canada canola market finished lower on Friday, due to improving weather in Western Canada and losses in the US soy complex.
The Canadian dollar was about a third of a cent stronger, relative to its US counterpart, which weighed down prices.
Some showers were forecast for central Alberta, western Saskatchewan and parts of eastern Saskatchewan and Manitoba, which helped alleviate worries over heat stress.
Losses in Malaysian palm oil undermined prices and crush margins continued to stay under fire due to the strengthening Canadian currency.
Read Also
ICE canola turning around on Tuesday
Glacier FarmMedia | MarketsFarm – Canola futures on the Intercontinental Exchange were higher on Tuesday morning, gaining strength from comparable…
However, tight canola stocks supported the market with reports rationing has already begun.
Traders were positioning themselves heading into the weekend.
About 15,461 canola contracts traded on Friday, which compares with Thursday when 11,399 contracts changed hands. Spreading accounted for 4,412 of the contracts traded.
Milling wheat, durum, and barley were all untraded.
Settlement prices are in Canadian dollars per metric tonne.
SOYBEAN futures at the Chicago Board of Trade were down one to five cents per bushel on Friday, as improving Midwestern weather conditions had traders booking profits and moving to the sidelines ahead of the weekend.
Forecasts calling for welcome rains across much of the Midwest over the next week should help boost the yield prospects for the developing crops, as many areas were in need of moisture.
However, some areas will still miss out on the rain, and the general production uncertainty at this time of year remained supportive.
SOYOIL futures were lower on Friday.
SOYMEAL futures settled with small losses on Friday.
CORN futures in Chicago were down seven to 11 cents per bushel on Friday, as traders squared positions ahead of the weekend.
The better Midwestern weather forecasts were also bearish for corn, although enough areas of concern persist to limit the losses.
Fund traders have moved to a net long position in corn, and were booking profits on some of those contracts on Friday.
Large South American crops and ample old crop supplies also weighed on corn.
WHEAT futures in Chicago were down by five to seven cents per bushel, after bouncing to both sides of unchanged, as traders took profits ahead of the weekend.
The losses in wheat came despite continued concerns over the state of the US spring wheat crop, as conditions remain hot and dry in the key growing regions of the US.
Declining production estimates out of Australia were also supportive.
