Glacier FarmMedia | MarketsFarm — Rising corn prices in the United States could provide support for feed grains in Western Canada, although the current price spread remains conducive for imports of U.S. corn into Canadian feed channels.
The December corn contract at the Chicago Board of Trade briefly traded below the psychological US$4.00 per bushel mark on Oct. 17 but recovered in the subsequent trading sessions to move above US$4.20 by Oct. 24. Solid export sales were behind much of that strength, with 3.6 million tonnes of sales in the week ended Oct. 17.
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With the U.S. corn harvest entering its final stages, seasonal harvest pressure subsiding, and analysts expect there could be more room to the upside on prices.
Corn delivered to Lethbridge for November-December delivery is currently trading around C$275 to C$280 per tonne, which is on par with domestic feed barley.
Canadian imports of U.S. corn are slow so far, with only 10,300 tonnes imported during the marketing year that began Sept. 1. That compares with 48,700 tonnes at the same point a year ago. In addition, there are only 57,200 tonnes of outstanding U.S. corn sales to Canada, well below the 735,700 tonnes on the books at the same time a year ago.
