The ICE Futures canola market was weaker on Tuesday, taking some direction from the Chicago Board of Trade soy complex as activity resumed after the August long weekend.
The Chicago soy complex fell sharply on Monday when Canadian markets were closed and remained pointed lower on Tuesday. Macroeconomic concerns spurred on by a U.S. diplomatic visit to Taiwan and resulting tensions with China were said to be behind some of the selling pressure.
Relatively favourable Canadian crop conditions were another bearish influence for canola, although some areas remain on the dry side while thunderstorm activity could cause damage where the storms hit.
End user bargain hunting at the lows likely provided some support, with a firmer tone in European rapeseed futures also helping temper the declines.
About 27,049 canola contracts traded on Tuesday, which compares with Friday when 35,031 contracts changed hands. Spreading accounted for 13,860 of the contracts traded.
SOYBEAN futures at the Chicago Board of Trade were weaker on Tuesday, seeing a continuation of Monday’s selloff amid continued weakness in world vegetable oil markets.
United States House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi was in Taiwan on Tuesday, heightening tensions with China and raising concerns that the country may reduce its purchases of U.S. grains and oilseeds.
Improving crop conditions were also bearish, with the U.S. soybean crop moving up one point in the good-to-excellent category to 60 per cent. An estimated 79 per cent of the soybean crop was blooming, which was only one point off the average for this time of year.
However, hot and dry forecasts for the western Corn Belt kept some caution in the market.
CORN was also down with follow-through selling after Monday’s declines. News that Ukrainian grain was once again moving out of Ukrainian ports accounted for some of the weakness, with the first shipment a 23,000-tonne load of corn out of Odessa.
The U.S. corn crop was left unchanged at 61 per cent good-to-excellent in the latest weekly report, with 80 per cent in the silking stage of development.
WHEAT futures were also pressured by the Ukrainian grain exports.
The advancing U.S. winter wheat harvest was another bearish influence. It was 82 per cent complete as of this past Sunday, up five points from the previous week.
Improving U.S. spring wheat conditions also weighed on prices, moving up two points in the good-to-excellent category at 70 per cent. An estimated 97 per cent of the U.S. crop was headed.
