By Glen Hallick, MarketsFarm
WINNIPEG, Sept. 16 (MarketsFarm) – Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) Futures canola contracts were stronger Monday on support provided by short covering and Chicago soyoil.
With the drone attack on Saudi Arabia’s largest oil facilities over the weekend, more than half of the country’s processing capacity was lost. That drove up benchmark crude oil prices by US$7 to US$9 per barrel by mid-afternoon Monday. In turn, that boosted soyoil and other vegetable oil prices as well.
While the overall Prairie harvest lags behind pace, a trader said farmers have a great opportunity to catch up with a few days of good weather. Provincial crop reports, as of last week, stated the Manitoba harvest was furthest along at 40 per cent complete with Saskatchewan at 18 and Alberta at 16 per cent.
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Also, the trader said crush margins have continued to improve as farmers remain reluctant to sell.
There were 31,771 contracts traded on Monday, which compares with Friday when 42,153 contracts changed hands. Spreading accounted for 24,772 contracts traded.
Settlement prices are in Canadian dollars per metric tonne.
Price Change
Canola Nov 452.70 up 2.90
Jan 461.10 up 3.10
Mar 469.20 up 3.40
May 475.00 up 3.40
SOYBEAN futures at the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) were higher on Monday, with strong increases in soyoil.
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) reported a private sale of 256,000 tonnes of soybeans to China today. It’s believed this was likely part of the 600,000 tonnes China bought last week from the U.S.
The USDA’s weekly export inspections reported that 666,500 tonnes of soybeans were shipped as of Sept. 12. That’s a drop of nearly 32 per cent from the previous week.
The National Oilseed Processors Association (NOPA) reported a record August crush of about 168.085 million bushels, surpassing market expectations by about 6 million. The previous August record, set last year, was 158.89 million bushels.
Trade expectations are for soybeans conditions to be down one to two per cent from last week. The USDA issues its crop progress report at 3 pm CDT today.
Soybean planting in Brazil has started and analysts believe production will reach 122.62 million tonnes, up 7.62 million tonnes from last year.
China reported its hog population has dropped 40 per cent from this time last year due to African swine fever. That has slashed China’s demand for feed imports.
CORN futures were higher on Monday, as ethanol caught spillover from increased crude oil and soyoil prices.
In a move to appease Midwest farmers, U.S. President Donald Trump has put his support behind a plan to increase the amount of ethanol that oil producers must blend in. Recently the Trump administration issued numerous waivers to oil producers from such requirements, which cut the demand for corn and shut down several biofuel plants.
Market expectations are for corn conditions to be 54 per cent good to excellent, down one point from last week. The corn harvest is expected to be four per cent complete.
The USDA reported weekly exports inspections of corn amounted to 421,800 tonnes, which was down by more than 31 per cent from last week.
A report stated Japan’s imports of U.S. corn are expected to stay around 15.0 million tonnes per year for the next several years, provided there isn’t an incentive for Japan to increase their purchases.
WHEAT futures were stronger on Monday, as they correct from Friday’s losses.
Market expectations were for the spring wheat harvest to be 82 per cent complete. Seeding of winter wheat was estimated at eight per cent complete.
Weekly export inspections were more than 459,200 tonnes of wheat. That was up by at least 11 per cent from the previous week.
