By Terryn Shiells and Phil Franz-Warkentin, Commodity News Service Canada
WINNIPEG – ICE Futures Canada canola contracts ended lower on Thursday, following a day of choppy two-sided activity.
Spillover pressure from the declines seen in Chicago soyoil futures weighed on the market, as did the upswing in the value of the Canadian dollar.
Signs that planting and crop development conditions are improving in western Canada this week added to the bearish tone, analysts said.
Further downward pressure came from the large Canadian canola supply situation and the market’s bearish technical bias.
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Glacier FarmMedia — The ICE Futures canola market settled with small losses, as spillover from declines in the Chicago soy…
However, steady commercial and export demand helped to limit the losses, as did a recent slowdown in farmer selling as they focus on spring fieldwork.
About 18,316 canola contracts were traded on Thursday, which compares with Wednesday when 33,042 contracts changed hands. Spreading was a feature of the activity.
Milling wheat, durum and barley futures were untraded, though wheat values were adjusted slightly lower after Thursday’s close.
SOYBEAN futures at the Chicago Board of Trade were steady to up two cents per bushel on Thursday, as tightening old crop supplies and solid end user demand provided some support.
However, soybeans ran into resistance to the upside and the nearby July contract ended below the psychological US$15.00 per bushel level.
The advances were also tempered by the relatively favourable crop prospects seen across the US Midwest.
SOYOIL futures were down on Thursday, as losses in outside vegetable oil markets weighed on values. Malaysian palm oil fell to its weakest levels in seven months in overnight activity.
SOYMEAL futures were narrowly mixed on Thursday, although most months managed to hold onto small gains. Adjustments to the soyoil/soymeal spread favoured the meal side of the equation on Thursday.
CORN futures in Chicago were down three to six cents per bushel on Thursday, with the good US crop prospects behind some of the weakness.
Corn seeding is nearing completion across the US, with good moisture conditions expected to aid crop development in most areas, according to analysts.
World corn production is also rising, according to a report from the International Grains Council that increased their estimate on the size of the 2014/15 global crop by 5 million tonnes, to 955 million tonnes.
WHEAT futures in Chicago settled six to seven cents per bushel lower on Thursday, as improving US crop prospects continued to weigh on values. Minneapolis futures were down three to nine cents, while Kansas City values lost three to five cents.
Dry areas of the hard winter wheat growing regions of the US Great Plains have received more moisture in the past week than the previous six months combined, according to reports. The moisture should boost yield prospects in the region. Soft wheat in the Midwest has also received beneficial moisture recently.
The International Grains Council estimated global wheat production in 2014/15 at 694 million tonnes, which was down by 3 million tonnes from an earlier estimate, with declines in the US accounting for most of the reduction.
• A number of US farm groups, including the National Association of Wheat Growers and the US Wheat Associates, are calling for Japan to be kept out of trade talks on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). Japan has said it will not agree to get rid of all tariffs on wheat, rice, dairy, sugar, beef, or pork.
• Germany will grow 24.77 million tonnes of wheat this year, which would be in line with the 24.87 million tonnes grown the previous year, and up from a previous estimate of 23.95 million tonnes, according to a report from Toepfer International.
• Poland’s winter wheat crops are in good shape, according to a report from the USDA’s Foreign Agriculture Service.
ICE Futures Canada settlement prices are in Canadian dollars per metric ton.
