By Phil Franz-Warkentin, MarketsFarm
Winnipeg, April 3 (MarketsFarm) – ICE Futures canola contracts were weaker on Wednesday, posting losses for the first time in five days as speculative short-covering dried up and the bearish underlying fundamentals weighed on prices.
Large old crop supplies and the ongoing uncertainty over Chinese demand accounted for much of the weakness, with expectations for a burdensome carryout at the end of the 2018/19 marketing year.
Losses in Chicago Board of Trade soyoil and a firmer tone in the Canadian dollar also weighed on values.
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However, a lack of significant farmer selling and expectations for a decline in seeded acres this spring helped temper the declines.
About 25,085 canola contracts traded on Wednesday, which compares with Tuesday when 13,757 contracts changed hands. Spreading accounted for 17,750 of the contracts traded.
SOYBEAN futures at the Chicago Board of Trade were weaker on Wednesday, backing away from earlier gains as the market ran into resistance to the upside.
The May contract had traded above the psychological US$9 per bushel mark at one point, but failed to see any follow-through buying and eventually turned lower.
Large old crop supplies, South American harvest pressure, and expectations that Midwestern flooding will see some intended corn acres go to soybeans instead all added to the weaker tone.
However, optimism over trade negotiations taking place between the United States and China provided some support.
CORN futures held onto small gains, as concerns over planting delays provided support.
However, corn remained range-bound overall with any upside limited by the large old crop supply situation.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture releases its monthly world supply/demand report next week, and positioning ahead of the report accounted for some of the activity.
WHEAT futures were mixed, with losses in Minneapolis spring wheat and gains in the winter wheats.
Improving weather conditions in the northern spring wheat growing states accounted for some of the selling pressure in the Minneapolis futures, as concerns over flooding and seeding delays in the region started to subside.
Meanwhile, speculative short-covering underpinned the Chicago and Kansas City contracts, and the spreads between the three markets saw some adjustment.
