Canola futures on the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) were weaker on Thursday, as the sell-off in the market continued.
Pressure on the Canadian oilseed also came from sharp losses in Chicago soybeans and soyoil, as well as European rapeseed. More modest losses in Malaysian palm oil added to the declines. Small increases in Chicago soymeal helped to temper further losses. Weakness in global crude oil prices weighed on the vegetable oil complex.
The Labour Day long weekend across the Prairies is expected to see temperatures push into the low 30 degrees Celsius. That heat should see the harvest pick up more steam.
The markets in Canada and the United States will be closed on Monday for the holiday.
Saskatchewan reported its province-wide harvest reached 23 per cent complete, up seven points on the week. The combining of canola was still in its early stages with eight per cent harvested.
The Canadian dollar was lower at mid-afternoon as the loonie fell back to 75.97 U.S. cents, compared to Wednesday’s close 76.27.
There were 26,734 contracts traded on Thursday, which compares with Wednesday when 23,221 contracts changed hands. Spreading accounted for 16,230 contracts traded.
Settlement prices are in Canadian dollars per metric tonne.
Price Change
Canola Nov 812.00 dn 23.40
Jan 821.00 dn 23.20
Mar 827.70 dn 23.70
May 829.90 dn 23.30
SOYBEAN futures at the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) were weaker on Thursday, as global crude oil prices dropped.
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) issued a statement on Wednesday noting it has postponed its weekly export sales report until Sept. 15. There have been glitches in the USDA’s new reporting method for the report. That will see the department revert to its previous system when the reports resume.
The USDA reported a private sale of 2022/23 soybeans to unknown destinations.
There were 181 million bushels of soybeans crushed in July, according to the USDA. That’s nine per cent more than in July 2021. Approximately 2.16 billion pounds of soyoil was produced, six per cent more than the previous July.
CORN futures were also weaker on Thursday, as outside macro influences put pressure on the market.
Hot and dry weather is forecast to continue over the U.S. Corn Belt for up to two weeks.
The USDA grain crushings report noted 500 million bushels of corn were used in July, down one per cent from July 2021.
Allendale Inc. released its annual survey which calls for U.S. corn yields to be 172.4 bushels per acre. That’s three bu./ac. lower than the current USDA estimate. Allendale pegged 2022/23 corn production at 14.1 billion bushels.
WHEAT futures were weaker as well on Thursday, due to a surging U.S. dollar and concerns over a looming economic recession.
Russian wheat exports for September are projected to be four million tonnes, up 500,000 from August. Despite a large harvest, exports so far this marketing year are 27 per cent below this time last year.
A report said Ukraine’s grain exports in August dropped by 59.5 per cent compared to a year ago. That included 1.3 million tonnes of corn, 763,000 tonnes of wheat and 161,000 tonnes of barley.
The Ukrainian Agrarian Council estimated wheat plantings in Ukraine could fall 30 to 40 per cent, with production likely to reach 15 million tonnes.
In international purchases Japan bought 95,500 tonnes of wheat from Canada and the U.S.
