By Phil Franz-Warkentin, MarketsFarm
WINNIPEG, June 30 (MarketsFarm) – The ICE Futures canola market was stronger on Wednesday, as a rally in the Chicago Board of Trade soy complex on the back of a pair of bullish reports provided support.
Acreage and quarterly stocks numbers from the United States Department of Agriculture sparked a rally in soybeans, which spilled into canola, with planted area coming in well below trade expectations and quarterly stocks seen as tight.
Record high temperatures across Western Canada this week, with little precipitation in the immediate forecasts to alleviate the heat, contributed to the gains in canola.
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Canadian markets will be closed Thursday for Canada Day, while U.S. markets remain open. Positioning ahead of the holiday likely accounted for some of the activity in canola. U.S. markets will be closed Monday, July 5, for Independence Day.
About 29,487 canola contracts traded on Wednesday, which compares with Tuesday when 27,045 contracts changed hands. Spreading accounted for 5,404 of the contracts traded.
SOYBEAN futures at the Chicago Board of Trade were up sharply on Wednesday, rallying in reaction to the latest acreage and stocks reports from the United States Department of Agriculture.
U.S. soybean seedings this year were left relatively unchanged from earlier estimates at 87.6 million acres. That surprised market participants, as average trade guesses had been for an increase of at least a million acres or more from the earlier forecast.
Quarterly U.S. soybean stocks, as of June 1, were also tighter than expected at 766.8 million bushels, which highlighted the need for a large soybean crop this year.
CORN also had a bullish reaction to the USDA reports.
U.S. corn plantings were pegged at 92.7 million acres, which were up from the prospective plantings report, but still well below average trade guesses.
Quarterly U.S. corn stocks, at 4.1125 billion bushels, were at the lower end of trade expectations.
Talk of possible frost in Brazil was also supportive, with heat and dryness in parts of the U.S. corn belt also underpinning the futures.
WHEAT futures were higher in sympathy with corn and soybeans.
Total U.S. wheat acres, at 46.7 million, were at the higher end of trade guesses but the rally in corn and beans was enough to pull wheat up as well. Wheat ending stocks also came in at the lower end of trade expectations.
Spring wheat seedings in the country, at 11.6 million acres, were down slightly from original intentions, and compare with the 12.3 million acres planted the previous year.
