By Terryn Shiells and Phil Franz-Warkentin, Commodity News Service Canada
WINNIPEG, Oct. 20 – ICE Futures Canada canola contracts ended lower on Monday, following the declines seen in Chicago soybean and soyoil futures, analysts said.
Chart-based selling, expectations of record large US soybean production and pressure from the advancing soy harvest in the US Midwest added to the bearish tone.
Spillover pressure from the weakness in Malaysian palm oil and European rapeseed futures further undermined prices.
However, slow farmer selling, as harvest activities are wrapping up in much of Western Canada, helped to limit the declines.
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About 34,952 contracts traded on Monday, which compares with Friday when 26,956 contracts changed hands. Spreading was a large feature of the activity, as traders rolled out of the November contract ahead of its expiry.
Milling wheat, durum and barley futures were untraded and unchanged.
SOYBEAN futures at the Chicago Board of Trade were down six to eight cents per bushel on Monday, as improving US harvest weather weighed on values.
After wet conditions delayed harvest operations across much of the Midwest over the past week, the forecasts have turned drier for the next ten days which should allow farmers to make some good progress.
The USDA releases its latest weekly crop report after Monday’s close, and general expectations say the US soybean harvest was 50% complete, or more, as of this past Sunday.
Tight nearby supplies, dryness concerns in Brazil, and supportive technical signals helped temper the declines in soybeans.
SOYOIL futures were down on Monday, following soybeans. Declines in outside vegetable oil markets contributed to the weaker tone.
SOYMEAL futures were down on Monday, also following soybeans.
CORN futures in Chicago settled near unchanged on Monday, after posting losses for most of the session.
The improving US harvest conditions and continued expectations for record large production were bearish for corn throughout the day. However, corn managed to recover off its lows, as the cheap prices were said to be encouraging more demand.
A report out of Japan showed that the country was using more corn in its feed rations.
WHEAT futures in Chicago were down one to three cents per bushel on Monday.
Recent rainfall across the southern US Plains has helped boost the moisture levels for recently seeded winter wheat in the region, which was behind some of the weakness. In addition, the forecasts are now turning drier, which will be beneficial for those farmers who have still not finished seeding their winter wheat.
The general weakness in corn recently also put some pressure on wheat values, as wheat competes with corn into some feed channels.
– Russia has exported 13.299 million tonnes of grain during the current marketing year-to-date, which began July 1. That was up 33.3% from the same period the previous year. Of the total, wheat accounted for 11.131 million tonnes of the exports.
– In a separate report, Russia’s grain harvest was reported to be running ahead of the year-pace. A total of 60.7 million tonnes of wheat has been harvested so far, which compares with 53.3 million tonnes at the same point a year ago. With 23.1 million hectares of wheat harvested, there are still 2.62 million acres to go.
– Chinese officials will keep their minimum purchase price for wheat steady at 2,360 yuan (US$384.32) for 2015, which was unchanged from the previous year, said the country’s economic planner.
ICE Futures Canada settlement prices are in Canadian dollars per metric ton.
