By Jade Markus and Dave Sims, Commodity News Service Canada
Winnipeg, October 16 – THE ICE Futures Canada canola market finished stronger in sideways trading Friday. Canola received a boost from the Canadian currency and followed the path of least resistance higher.
“The volume’s fairly light; an indication no one is really pushing this thing one way or the other,” said a trader.
The Canadian dollar was weaker relative to its US counterpart, which made canola more attractive to foreign buyers.
US soyoil and European rapeseed futures were both slightly higher on the day which was supportive.
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Inclement weather in South America has caused some minor planting delays in both Argentina and Brazil which was supportive.
Commercial demand was steady and investors positioned themselves before the start of the weekend.
However, US soybeans and Malaysian palm oil were weaker which dragged on values.
A total of 24,015 canola contracts were traded on Friday, which compares with Thursday when 23,013 contracts changed hands. Spreading accounted for 19,560 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 closed five to seven cents per bushel lower Friday despite strong export data from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).
The US harvest is wrapping up, and has returned better than expected yields, which weighed on prices.
Market watchers say storage units are filling up, and producers will likely need to sell soon, though they don’t necessarily like current prices, which is bearish.
According to the USDA, soybean sales for the week ended October 8 totalled about 1.5 million metric tonnes.
SOYOIL prices settled higher on Friday.
SOYMEAL closed lower on Friday following neighbouring grain and oilseed markets.
CORN futures closed one cent per bushel stronger Friday, seeing some recovery as they rebounded off one-month lows.
Since farmers are busy harvesting they aren’t selling corn into the market just yet, which is bullish.
Also supporting prices, analysts say farmers do not want to sell at current levels.
WHEAT closed nine to ten cents per bushel weaker on Friday as forecasts for rain in the US pressured prices.
The US Plains have been dry as of late, but rain is favourable to winter wheat production.
Further adding to the bearish tone, data from the USDA reflected a lack of demand for US wheat.
The USDA said Friday that last week’s sales totalled 460,000 metric tonnes.
– Reports out of France suggest the country will see a large wheat crop this year, and will be exporting more next year.
– An Australian economist says the country’s wheat may become more expensive due to the dryness affecting growing regions.
