By Phil Franz-Warkentin, Commodity News Service Canada
Winnipeg, Oct. 18 (CNS Canada) – ICE Futures Canada canola contracts settled with small losses on Wednesday, as gains in the Canadian dollar and losses in Chicago Board of Trade soyoil weighed on prices.
A lack of significant end user demand contributed to the declines, as the commercial pipeline is relatively full for the time being.
However, farmer selling on the other side is also slowing down as the harvest wraps up across most of the Prairies.
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While the seasonal hedge pressure may be fading, there are still some unharvested fields and the adverse weather in parts of Western Canada provided some support.
From a technical standpoint, the November contract tested the C$500 per tonne mark for the fifth straight session, but once again failed to settle above that psychological resistance level.
About 28,660 canola contracts traded on Wednesday, which compares with Tuesday when 24,405 contracts changed hands. Spreading accounted for 18,848 of the contracts traded.
Milling wheat, durum, and barley were all untraded, although prices were revised after the close.
Soybean futures at the Chicago Board of Trade were lacking any clear direction on Wednesday, although the bias was lower in the most active months at the close.
While the U.S. harvest was running a bit behind normal, the forecasts look farvourable across the Midwest and producers should make some good progress over the next week or so, according to market participants.
Improving weather conditions in Brazil also kept beans under pressure, as rainfall there will help with germination.
Corn was also lower on the day, with ideas that U.S. farmers will be able to make good harvest progress over the next few weeks accounting for some of the selling pressure.
Corn remains stuck within a rather narrow sideways trading range from a chart standpoint, with the December contract not straying too far from the US$3.50 per bushel mark.
Wheat was down one to five cents, as ample world supplies kept all three U.S. markets under pressure. Production estimates out of Russia and Europe continue to be revised higher, accounting for some of the weakness.
However, seeding delays in key winter wheat growing regions of the U.S. provided support.
