By Phil Franz-Warkentin, MarketsFarm
Winnipeg, April 1 (MarketsFarm) – ICE Futures canola contracts were stronger on Monday, taking some direction from the Chicago soy complex.
Speculators covering their large short positions accounted for some of the buying interest, according to participants.
Spring road bans and a lack of significant farmer selling provided additional support.
However, uncertainty over the trade situation with China remained a bearish influence in the background, as the canola market waits for fresh news on the trade front.
About 14,597 canola contracts traded on Monday, which compares with Friday when 25,735 contracts changed hands. Spreading accounted for 10,250 of the contracts traded, as participants started rolling their positions out of the nearby May contract.
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SOYBEAN futures at the Chicago Board of Trade were stronger on Monday, seeing a correction after Friday’s declines.
Optimism over trade talks between the United States and China accounted for some of the strength, with improving manufacturing data out of China also supportive for the financial and commodity markets in general.
In addition, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported flash sales of 828,000 tonnes of soybeans to China this morning.
Last week’s smaller than expected U.S. acreage forecast from the USDA provided some additional support, although flooding across parts of the Midwest will likely see some intended corn area go into soybeans instead.
CORN futures were stronger, with chart-based profit-taking after Friday’s losses a feature. The likelihood of spring seeding delays was also supportive.
The USDA forecast corn acres in the country this year at nearly 92.8 million acres, which would be well above average trade guesses.
However, what actually gets seeded remains to be seen. At least a million acres of land was flooded after a recent storm, and other areas still waiting for the snow to melt.
There are also questions over how much old crop corn in storage was damaged by flooding
WHEAT futures were mixed, with a steady to lower tone in Minneapolis spring wheat and gains in the winter wheats.
While the large stocks reported by the USDA on Friday remained a bearish influence, speculative positioning and spillover from the gains in corn and soybeans provided some support.
