By Dave Sims and Jade Markus, Commodity News Service Canada
Winnipeg, August 12 – THE ICE Futures Canada canola market finished mixed on Friday, in the wake of a bearish report from the United States Department of Agriculture.
The USDA pegged soybean production this year at 4.06 billion bushels, with yields of almost 49 bushels an acre. That was above analysts’ expectations and pushed down soybeans and by extension canola. However, analysts had mostly been expecting, this which is why the downside was limited.
The Canadian dollar was higher compared to the US dollar, which made canola less enticing to out-of-country buyers.
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However, canola still continues to be viewed as a bargain relative to other oilseeds, which was supportive.
Gains in crude oil, soyoil and Malaysian palm oil underpinned the market.
Concerns over wet weather in parts of Western Canada were bullish.
Around 15,631 canola contracts were traded on Friday, which compares with Thursday when around 14,540 contracts changed hands. Spreading accounted for about 1,692 of the contracts traded.
Milling wheat, barley and durum were all untraded.
Settlement prices are in Canadian dollars per metric tonne.
SOYBEAN futures at the Chicago Board of Trade closed three cents per bushel lower to two cents per bushel higher on Friday as spec funds lifted the market despite bearish data from the United States Department of Agriculture.
Soybean production is expected to reach 4.06 billion bushels, a new record, and a three per cent increase from last year, according to USDA data.
Strong demand for US oilseeds underpinned the market, though traders expect declines to manifest in coming sessions.
SOYOIL prices closed higher on Friday.
SOYMEAL closed weaker on Friday.
CORN futures were about one cent per bushel higher on Friday despite projections for record production from the USDA.
Corn production is expected to reach 15.2 billion bushels this year, which is up 11 per cent from year-ago levels.
Bargain hunting was a feature, market watchers say.
WHEAT closed two to six cents per bushel higher on Thursday as investors short covered in the face of bearish numbers from the USDA.
All wheat production is expected to reach 2.321 billion bushels.
The expectation for increased Russian wheat production this year could cap gains in coming sessions.
– Reports out of Russia peg domestic wheat production at 71.3 million tonnes.
– Saudi Arabia still has a tender out for 600 thousand tonnes of milling wheat.
