By Dave Sims and Phil Franz-Warkentin, Commodity News Service Canada
Winnipeg, September 30 – THE ICE Futures Canada canola market finished lower in speculative selling Friday, as traders adjusted positions before the weekend.
Strength in the Canadian dollar put pressure on exports of canola.
The harvest continues to chug along in Western Canada, which also dragged on prices.
Expectations of a massive soybean crop in South America was another bearish factor along with uncertainty about how much canola China will buy this year.
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However, the big news of the day was the USDA Grain Stocks report that came out in the morning. The agency pegged soybean inventories in the US at a level that was below what most analysts were expecting.
The US soy complex and vegetable oil markets were both higher which was supportive. Crushing activity in Western Canada is strong and wet weather has delayed the harvest in certain areas.
Around 18,818 canola contracts were traded on Friday, which compares with Thursday when around 18,930 contracts changed hands. Spreading accounted for about 8,880 of the contracts traded.
Milling wheat, barley and durum were untraded.
Settlement prices are in Canadian dollars per metric tonne.
SOYBEAN futures at the Chicago Board of Trade were up by two to four cents per bushel on Friday, as the latest USDA stocks data was deemed somewhat supportive.
There were 197 million bushels of soybeans in the US as of September 1, according to the USDA. That was the highest level in five years, but still down from average trade estimates.
Solid export demand was also supportive, as the US sold 118,000 tonnes of soybeans to China and another 198,000 tonnes to ‘unknown destinations’.
However, the advancing US harvest and good early yield reports tempered the upside, according to participants.
SOYOIL futures posted small gains on Friday.
SOYMEAL futures were steady to slightly higher on Friday, following soybeans.
CORN futures in Chicago were up by seven cents per bushel on Friday, as US corn stocks came in below average trade guesses.
US corn stocks, as of September 1, were reported at 1.738 billion bushels by the USDA. While that is the highest level in ten years, it was still below market expectations and gave the market a bit of a boost.
WHEAT futures in Chicago were up by one to three cents per bushel, despite US wheat stocks hitting their highest levels in nearly 30 years.
The USDA pegged the country’s wheat supplies, as of September 1, at 2.527 billion bushels. That was the largest since 1987 and near the high end of trade guesses.
However, US wheat production came in slightly behind trade estimates, which provided some support.
Concerns over tightening supplies of higher quality wheat also kept wheat well supported, especially in Minneapolis.
