By Terryn Shiells and Phil Franz-Warkentin, Commodity News Service Canada
WINNIPEG, Oct. 21 – ICE Futures Canada canola contracts ended lower after a day of choppy, two-sided activity on Tuesday.
Some of the price softness was linked to technical selling, as the market’s bias remains pointed lower, analysts said.
The upswing in the value of the Canadian dollar also weighed on prices, as it made canola less attractive to crushers and exporters.
Expectations of record large US soybean production further undermined canola.
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However, some spillover support came from the gains seen in Malaysian palm oil, European rapeseed and Chicago soybean futures.
Worries about slow harvest progress in the U.S. Midwest also underpinned values.
About 18,774 contracts traded on Tuesday, which compares with Monday when 34,952 contracts changed hands. Spreading was a feature of the activity, as traders rolled out of the November contract ahead of its expiry.
Milling wheat and durum futures were untraded, though the Exchange moved wheat prices higher after Tuesday’s close. Barley futures saw some activity, with 50 December contracts traded at higher prices.
SOYBEAN futures at the Chicago Board of Trade were up 15 to 21 cents per bushel on Tuesday, as the slow pace of the US harvest and the equally slow planting pace in Brazil provided some support. Chart-based buying contributed to the gains.
The weekly USDA crop report showed that the US soybean harvest was 53% complete as of this past Sunday, which compares with the five-year average of 66%.
While rainy weather has slowed the harvest progress in many areas, the forecasts are looking drier over the next week. In addition, some of the dry regions of Brazil are now seeing some rainfall, which will aid soybean plantings there.
SOYOIL futures were up on Tuesday, following soybeans. However, soyoil did lag the rest of the soy complex to the upside, with some positioning against soymeal limiting the advances.
SOYMEAL futures were up on Tuesday.
CORN futures in Chicago settled five to eight cents per bushel higher on Tuesday, finding some support from the slow US harvest pace.
The US corn harvest was only 31% complete as of October 19, which compares with the five-year average of 53% done, according to the USDA.
However, just as in soybeans, the forecasts calling for drier conditions over the next week to ten days did temper the advances.
WHEAT futures in Chicago were up five to eight cents per bushel on Tuesday.
The slow pace of the US soybean and corn harvest provided some spillover support for wheat, as winter wheat plantings have been delayed in some cases, according to reports.
Improving export demand also underpinned the futures, although ample world supplies remained a bearish influence overhanging the market.
• Syria will need to import one million tonnes of wheat due to a poor harvest and the ongoing war, which has seen the government lose control over a large portion of the country’s farmland, according to reports.
• The North Dakota durum harvest was 97% complete as of Sunday, October 19, according to the latest USDA report.
ICE Futures Canada settlement prices are in Canadian dollars per metric ton.
