By Dave Sims and Phil Franz-Warkentin, Commodity News Service Canada
Winnipeg, December 24 – THE ICE Futures Canada canola market finished higher Thursday, tracking gains in CBOT soyoil.
European rapeseed futures were also stronger which gave a boost to canola.
Slow farmer selling and steady commercial buying helped to underpin the market.
Traders were trying to position themselves ahead of the Christmas break.
The Canadian market closed one hour early today, and will remain closed until Tuesday, December 29.
However, CBOT soybeans and other nearby commodities were all lower which dragged on values.
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Argentina looks poised to release large stockpiles of soybeans onto the market now that their peso has been devalued and the export tax on soybeans lowered.
Around 5,279 canola contracts were traded on Thursday, which compares with Wednesday when around 21,700 contracts changed hands. Spreading accounted for about 4,326 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 6 to 8 cents per bushel on Thursday, as improving South American production prospects and pre-Christmas position evening weighed on prices.
Weekly US soybean export sales came in above 2 million tonnes, which was nearly double the top end of trade estimates.
While the export demand was supportive, soybeans were unable to hold onto any gains during the choppy session. US markets closed early, and many participants kept to the sidelines ahead of the Christmas holiday.
SOYOIL settled higher on Thursday, with solid weekly export demand behind some of the strength.
SOYMEAL futures were down on Thursday, with spreading against soyoil contributing to the declines.
CORN futures in Chicago held near unchanged on Thursday, although the bias was lower at the close with routine year-end positioning behind some of the day’s activity.
Weekly US corn exports came in just above 800,000 tonnes, which topped trade estimates and provided some underlying support throughout the day.
However, exports are still running well behind the previous year’s pace.
The prospects for export competition out of Argentina and Brazil also remain at the forefront of the corn market, according to participants.
WHEAT futures in Chicago were down by one to two cents per bushel on Thursday, as poor export demand weighed on prices.
Weekly US wheat export sales came in at 370,300 tonnes, which was in line with trade guesses, but still lacklustre overall.
US wheat remains overpriced in the global market, keeping prices trending lower in an effort to uncover some fresh export demand.
Relatively favourable conditions for the US winter wheat crop also weighed on values. However, concerns in other parts of the world provided some support – with a lack of snow cover in Europe and Ukraine raising the possibility of winterkill in some areas.
