By Phil Franz-Warkentin, Commodity News Service Canada
Winnipeg, Jan. 19 (CNS Canada) – ICE Futures Canada canola contracts were stronger on Friday, settling at their highest levels in two weeks as the market saw a continued bounce off of the nearby lows hit on Wednesday. Gains in Chicago Board of Trade soybeans and weakness in the Canadian dollar were supportive
A lack of significant farmer and steady end user demand contributed to the firmer tone, according to participants.
Crush margins improved slightly on the day, but are well off the levels seen at the same time a year ago. Fund traders are also still holding large net short positions in canola.
Read Also
North American Grain and Oilseed Review: Canola clings to small upticks
By Glen Hallick, MarketsFarm Glacier Farm Media MarketsFarm – Intercontinental Exchange canola futures closed a pinch higher on Friday, after…
About 16,710 canola contracts traded on Friday, which compares with Thursday when 11,151 contracts changed hands. Spreading accounted for 9,498 of the contracts traded.
Good export demand helped take Chicago Board of Trade soybeans higher on Friday, with the United States Department of Agriculture reporting weekly sales of 1.5 million tonnes.
Persistent weather concerns in Argentina were also supportive, as conditions remain on the hot and dry side in the key soybean growing country. In addition to potential yield losses, the planted area may also be down as the lack of moisture has hampered seeding operations in some areas.
Corn futures settled with small gains in most months, after chopping around both sides of unchanged. The steady tone in corn came despite much better than expected weekly export sales.
The USDA reported sales of roughly 1.9 million tonnes, which were about a million tonnes above the top end of trade guesses.
All three U.S. wheat markets were down on the day, as weekly wheat export sales of about 190,000 tonnes were at the low end of market expectations.
Forecasts are calling for much needed rain and snow across some U.S. winter wheat growing regions. Snow in the forecasts for Ukraine and Russia should also help the dormant winter wheat crops there see more protection from cold temperatures.
