By Glen Hallick, MarketsFarm
WINNIPEG, April 29 (MarketsFarm) – ICE Futures canola contracts were weaker on Monday, with the spread weighing on values especially for the front months.
The May contract lost C$1.40 at C$438.10 per tonne and the July contract fell C$1.30 at C$444.90 per tonne.
China’s ban on canola imports from Canada and farmers in the United States switching from corn to planting soybeans weighed on values. As did a weaker vegetable oil market and a huge South American soybean harvest.
The prospect of fewer canola acres being planted on the Prairies this year tempered losses.
Read Also
North American Grain/Oilseed Review: Canola rises, down day for grains
Glacier FarmMedia | MarketsFarm – Canola futures on the Intercontinental Exchange were higher on Friday despite weakness in most comparable…
Snowfall on parts of the Prairies over the weekend has delayed planting. Daytime highs in the single digits this week won’t be conducive to planting as well.
Since last week, there have been reports of Canadian soybeans, peas and pork having trouble getting imported into China. Imports have been delayed or rejected by Chinese authorities for a variety of reasons.
New canola sales of dried up in January, about a month after the arrest of Huawei Technology executive Meng Wanzhou was arrested. It wasn’t until March, that China officially banned Richardson International and Viterra from selling canola to the country.
The Leader of the Official Opposition, Andrew Scheer, accused Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of not doing enough to help struggling canola growers. Scheer stated Trudeau has allowed China to get away with detaining two Canadian citizens and banning canola imports without any fear of consequences. The Conservative leader also called on the Liberal government to appeal China’s ban to the World Trade Organization, and increase advance payments to canola growers.
The federal government said it is taking a scientific approach to resolving the import ban, with retaliatory measures only as a last resort. Also, the feds set up the Canola Working Group that includes senior government officials from the Prairie Provinces, industry and growers.
There were 23,800 contracts traded on Monday, which compares with Friday when 31,661 contracts changed hands.
SOYBEAN futures at the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) were weaker on Monday due to a large global supply and sluggish United States exports.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture will release its crop progress report later on Monday afternoon. Expectations are for soybean acres to increase from one per cent to four per cent planted.
High-level trade talks between the U.S. and China are set to resume on Tuesday. According to Mike Jubinville of MarketsFarm Pro, a major grain company said its customers have been getting ready for a trade deal between the two countries. In the deal, China is expected to buy large quantities of U.S. soybeans.
The Brazil real and the Argentina peso lost ground to the U.S. dollar last week. That made South American soybean and corn purchases more attractive to international buyers.
CORN futures were up slightly on Monday, as fewer corn acres to be planted by U.S. farmers in 2019.
That said expectations are for 14 per cent of the corn crop to be in the ground, up from six per cent from the USDA’s report last week.
Corn imports by the European Union increased by 39 per cent year-over-year, according to a report. The EU imported 20.1 million tonnes of corn as of April 28.
WHEAT futures were weaker on Monday, due large global supplies.
Ahead of the USDA’s report, expectations are for 14 per cent of the U.S. wheat crop to in the ground, up from the previous report’s five per cent.
EU soft wheat exports have reached 16.9 million tonnes this crop year. That’s 20 per cent behind the pace compared to the previous crop year.
Algeria purchased about 198,674 tonnes of durum, likely from Canada.
Saudi Arabia purchased approximately 620,514 tonnes of wheat, of which some is from the U.S.
