By Dave Sims and Phil Franz-Warkentin, Commodity News Service Canada
Winnipeg, December 23 – THE ICE Futures Canada canola market finished higher Wednesday, following advances in the vegetable oil market.
Chicago soyoil, Malaysian palm oil and European rapeseed futures were all stronger, which boosted canola prices.
Slow farmer selling and steady commercial buying helped to underpin the market.
Traders were trying to position themselves ahead of the Christmas break.
However, the Canadian dollar was stronger relative to its US counterpart which made canola less attractive to out-of-country buyers.
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Chicago soybeans were lower which dragged on values.
The potential for large stockpiles of Argentina soybeans to be dumped onto the market also cast a bearish tint over canola.
Around 21,700 canola contracts were traded on Wednesday, which compares with Tuesday when around 26,945 contracts changed hands. Spreading accounted for about 14,780 of the contracts traded.
Milling wheat, barley and durum were all untraded.
Settlement prices are in Canadian dollars per metric ton.
SOYBEAN futures at the Chicago Board of Trade were down by 3 to 6 cents per bushel on Wednesday, as large world supply projections and a lack of fresh export demand weighed on prices.
Unfavourable weather in parts of Brazil did provide some underlying support, but analysts noted that the South American country is still expected to see a record large soybean crop. Nearby Argentina is also projected to increase its soybean exports in the year ahead.
Year-end position evening was a feature, accounting for some choppy activity throughout the day. US markets will close early on December 24, and many participants were already moving to the sidelines ahead of the Christmas holiday.
SOYOIL settled with small gains on Wednesday, with spreading against soymeal providing some support. Advances in crude oil also provided some spillover support.
SOYMEAL futures were down on Wednesday.
CORN futures in Chicago held near unchanged on Wednesday, although the bias lower at the close with routine year-end position evening behind much of the lacklustre activity.
The prospects for export competition out of Argentina and Brazil remain at the forefront of the corn market, according to participants.
Bearish chart signals contributed to the softer tone in corn, although prices managed to hold above major nearby support.
WHEAT futures in Chicago were down by one to two cents per bushel on Tuesday, as poor export demand weighed on prices.
US wheat remains overpriced in the global market, keeping prices trending lower in an effort to uncover some fresh export demand.
Egypt bought 120,000 tonnes of wheat from Argentina in its latest tender, which was seen as underscoring the poor demand for US wheat.
Relatively favourable conditions for the US winter wheat crop also weighed on values. However, concerns in other parts of the world did provide some support – with a lack of snow cover in Europe and Ukraine raising the possibility of winterkill in some areas.
– A lack of snow cover and warmer than normal temperatures are raising the risk of winterkill for wheat crops in Ukraine and much of Europe, especially if temperatures drop quickly, according to reports.
