North American Grain/Oilseed Review: Canola ends lower after choppy day

WINNIPEG, March 12 (MarketsFarm) – The ICE Futures canola market was lower at Friday’s close, after trading to both sides of unchanged in choppy activity.

Tight old crop supplies and a rally in Chicago Board of Trade soyoil helped the nearby May contract hit a new high of C$808.50 per tonne at one point during the session.

However, canola ran into resistance and profit-taking ahead of the weekend came forward to weigh on values.

Strength in the Canadian dollar contributed to the eventual downturn in canola, as the currency moved above the 80 U.S. cent mark.

About 29,593 canola contracts traded on Friday, which compares with Thursday when 27,414 contracts changed hands. Spreading accounted for 14,960 of the contracts traded.

SOYBEAN futures at the Chicago Board of Trade were narrowly mixed at Friday’s close, with positioning ahead of the weekend a feature.

A rally in CBOT soyoil helped underpin beans, with Malaysian palm oil nearing 13-year record highs. However, losses in soymeal weighed on soybeans, with adjustments to the oil/meal spreads a feature.

Production uncertainty out of South America kept some caution in the bean market ahead of the weekend. Dryness in Argentina has led to production cuts there, but harvest weather has shown some improvement in Brazil and some forecasters have raised their estimates on the size of that country’s crop.

CORN was also narrowly mixed in pre-weekend positioning.

Argentina’s corn production was revised lower by the Buenos Aires Grain Exchange, now at 44 million tonnes from 46 million, due to dryness.

Meanwhile, wetness in Brazil that delayed the soybean harvest has corn seedings running at their slowest pace in a decade.

WHEAT futures were lower, as forecasts calling for beneficial precipitation across dry areas of the United States Plains weighed on values.

The moisture is coming just as fields are exiting their winter dormancy, and should help boost the yield potential. Crop conditions out of Russia and Europe have also shown some improvement.

The Western Producer

Tags: canola, ICE