As winter conditions descended on Alberta, prices for feed grains bumped up a little, but were otherwise "percolating sideways," stated Jim Beusekom of Market Place Commodities in Lethbridge.
Wheat growers in several exporting countries are reluctant to sell their crops with prices near four-year lows, traders, farmers and millers say, leaving flour makers with dwindling supplies and vulnerable to any potential upswing in prices.
The International Grains Council (IGC) said on Thursday it has trimmed its forecast for 2024/25 global wheat production driven partly by a diminished outlook for the European Union.
U.S. soybean futures hit a two-week low on Wednesday and soyoil futures fell more than three per cent on expectations for plentiful South American soy harvests this year along with uncertainty about demand for soy-based biodiesel fuel, analysts said.
U.S. wheat futures rose for a third-straight session on Tuesday, posting a one-week high on fears of escalating war in the Black Sea breadbasket region amid rising tensions between Moscow and Washington over Ukraine, analysts said.
There were only small changes to the updated supply/demand estimates from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) released Nov. 19. All of the other data in the AAFC report were carried over from its October report.
Ukraine's wheat harvest may increase to up to 25 million metric tons next year from an expected 22 million tons this year thanks to a larger sowing area, the first deputy agriculture minister Taras Vysotskiy told Reuters in an interview.
U.S. wheat futures climbed on Monday after the White House lifted restrictions that had blocked Ukraine from using U.S. missiles to strike deep within Russia, sparking concerns of an escalating war in the Black Sea breadbasket region.
Chicago Board of Trade soy futures rallied on Friday after China said it would cut its export incentives for used cooking oil, a move that could curtail the flood of imports into the U.S., market analysts said.