By Phil Franz-Warkentin, Commodity News Service Canada
Winnipeg, Nov. 1 (CNS Canada) – ICE Futures Canada canola contracts were stronger on Wednesday, posting their highest settlements in nearly four months.
Fund traders added to long positions, as gains in the Chicago Board of Trade soy complex and the recent weakness in the Canadian dollar remained supportive, according to participants.
Good end-user demand and a lack of significant farmer selling on the other side contributed to the gains, as producers are said to be holding out for higher prices.
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However, ideas that canola was looking overdone to the upside kept some caution in the futures, tempering the advances.
There were no deliveries against the November contract on the first notice day.
About 19,679 canola contracts traded on Wednesday, which compares with Tuesday when 23,254 contracts changed hands. Spreading accounted for 10,762 of the contracts traded.
Soybean futures were stronger on Wednesday, as solid Chinese demand provided support.
The U.S. soybean harvest is nearing completion, causing the seasonal harvest pressure to fade. Reports of lower-than-expected yields in some of the later harvested fields also provided some support.
Uncertainty over South American production kept some caution in the soybean market, although recent moisture in Brazil should be helping alleviate some of those concerns.
Corn remains in a sideways trading range overall, but managed to post some small gains on Wednesday as the grain found some spillover support from soybeans.
Midwestern farmers are still in the midst of the corn harvest, with yields reportedly beating expectations for the most part.
The USDA releases its latest supply/demand report next week, and positioning ahead of those numbers was likely already coming to play in the futures.
Wheat was mixed, with small gains in Minneapolis spring wheat, and small losses in the Chicago and Kansas City contracts.
Consolidation after yesterday’s move to fresh contract lows in the winter wheat contracts accounted for some of today’s activity.
With no real fresh fundamental news to provide support, the ample world wheat supply situation kept the general bias pointed lower. However, higher protein wheat remains on the tight side, which lent some relative strength to the Minneapolis market.
