By Glen Hallick, MarketsFarm
WINNIPEG, March 6 (MarketsFarm) – Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) canola futures gave up their earlier gains to finish narrowly mixed on Monday. The were small losses in the old crop months and slight upticks in the new crop positions.
Pressure on canola came from declines in Chicago soyoil, European rapeseed and Malaysian palm oil. Meanwhile support spilled over from gains in Chicago soybeans and soymeal. Modest advances in global crude oil prices helped the upswing in the vegetable oils.
Canola crush margins remained very wide, enticing interest from buyers. However, prices for the Canadian oilseed continued to be rangebound.
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The Canadian dollar was relatively steady at mid-afternoon Monday with the loonie at 73.44 U.S. cents, compared to Friday’s close of 73.48.
There were 16,852 contracts traded on Monday, which compares with Friday when 18,344 contracts changed hands. Spreading accounted for 9,052 contracts traded.
Settlement prices are in Canadian dollars per metric tonne.
Price Change Canola May 821.80 dn 0.70 Jul 816.80 dn 1.10 Nov 791.50 up 0.20 Jan 796.20 up 0.40
SOYBEAN futures at the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) were stronger on Monday, along with advances in soymeal but weakness in soyoil.
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) issued its export inspections report for the week ended March 2, showing soybean exports at 542,238 tonnes, down 29 per cent from the previous week. However, the year-to-date remains slightly ahead of this time last year at 42.70 million tonnes versus 41.48 million.
The USDA is scheduled to release its monthly supply and demand estimates on Wednesday. The average trade guess has U.S. soybean ending stocks at 220 million bushels, five million less than in February’s report. Production in Argentina is expected to fall by 8.8 million tonnes at 36.7 million, while Brazil is to remain steady at 152.9 million tonnes.
Reports said flooding on the lower Mississippi River has brought barge traffic to a halt.
Safras & Mercado said 35.4 per cent of Brazil’s 2022/23 soybean crop has been sold so far, lagging behind sales of the 2021/22 crop of which 48.5 per cent had been sold. The five-year average is 51.7 per cent. The consultancy said wet conditions slowed this year’s harvest, contributing to the decline in sales. That said, Brazil’s soybean harvest was reported to be 43 per cent complete.
Argentina is forecast to have another week of mostly dry weather, but with chances of rain in the country’s southwest.
CORN futures were a pinch lower on Monday, caught in between advances in soybeans and declines in wheat.
The USDA announced two private sales of 2022/23 corn, one for 110,000 tonnes to Japan and 182,400 tonnes to unknown destinations.
Weekly U.S. corn inspections came to 899,810 tonnes, up 38.5 per cent. The year-to-date remained far behind last year at 15.28 million tonnes versus 24.79 million.
Projections for Wednesday S&D report peg U.S. corn ending stocks at 1.31 billion bushels, up from 1.27 billion in February. Production in Argentina is to pull back from 47.0 million tonnes to 43.4 million. That for Brazil is expected to be virtually unchanged at 124.9 million tonnes.
Brazil’s second corn crop was reported to be 70 per cent planted, 10 points less than a year ago.
WHEAT futures were weaker on Monday, pushed lower by an absence of bullish news.
Outbound movements of U.S. wheat dropped 59 per cent on the week at 268,136 tonnes. The year-to-date tally reached 15.58 million tonnes, slightly behind last year’s pace.
Ahead of the USDA report, the trade projected U.S. wheat ending stocks at 573.0 million bushels, up from February’s 568.0 million.
There were indications of Turkey working to extend the Black Sea export agreement between Russia and Ukraine. The current deal is set to expire on March 18. In the meantime, Ukraine reached an export arrangement with Poland to ship some of its grain through the Baltic Sea. Also, Ukraine said its spring planting was underway.
China announced plans to increase its total grain production in 2023 by 1.6 per cent at 650 million tonnes.
