By Phil Franz-Warkentin, MarketsFarm
WINNIPEG, Oct. 15 (MarketsFarm) – The ICE Futures canola market was mostly stronger on Friday, although some of the more deferred months moved lower as the spreads saw some readjustment.
Gains in outside markets, including Chicago Board of Trade soyoil, Malaysian palm oil and European rapeseed futures, provided spillover support for the Canadian oilseed.
Canada’s tight supply situation and a lack of significant farmer selling, as harvest operations have wrapped up across most of the Prairies, contributed to the gains.
However, recent strength in the Canadian dollar tempered the upside. The currency held relatively steady on Friday, but has gained over a cent relative to its United States counterpart over the past week. The rising currency cuts into crush margins and makes exports less attractive for international buyers.
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About 27,183 canola contracts traded on Friday, which compares with Thursday when 29,915 contracts changed hands. Spreading accounted for 20,108 of the contracts traded.
SOYBEAN futures at the Chicago Board of Trade were stronger on Friday, with speculative positioning ahead of the weekend a feature as the market continued to attempt to claw back from Tuesday’s selloff.
Solid export demand provided underlying support for soybeans – with weekly sales of just over 1.1 million tonnes coming in line with trade expectations.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture also announced large additional flash sales this morning of over 700,000 tonnes of soybeans to unknown destinations an additional 132,000 tonnes to China for delivery during the current marketing year.
Seasonal harvest pressure tempered the upside despite recent rain delays in parts of the Midwest.
Monthly crush data showed that U.S. oilseed processors crushed 153.8 million bushels of soybeans in September, which was down by five million from the previous month and below average trade guesses.
CORN was also up with pre-weekend positioning, as the market continued to recover after losses earlier in the week.
Weekly U.S. corn export sales of just over a million tonnes were in line with trade guesses.
Harvest conditions look relatively favourable across much of the Midwest, which tempered the upside.
WHEAT futures were higher across the board, with Minneapolis spring wheat setting fresh contract highs. European wheat futures also hit new highs.
Weekly U.S. wheat export sales of 567,000 tonnes topped trade guesses, providing the catalyst for the increase.
