North American Grain/Oilseed Review: Canola firm, but well off session highs

The ICE Futures canola market held onto small gains on Wednesday, but settled well off its highs for the day after profit-taking came forward to weigh on values.

Spillover buying interest from soybeans and soyoil at the Chicago Board of Trade provided support, with European rapeseed and Malaysian palm oil also stronger on the day.

Ongoing concerns over tight supplies and the need to ration demand remained supportive, although ideas that canola prices may be high enough for the time being tempered the upside.

About 14,820 canola contracts traded on Tuesday, which compares with Tuesday when 18,802 contracts changed hands. Spreading accounted for 7,318 of the contracts traded.

SOYBEAN futures at the Chicago Board of Trade moved to both sides of unchanged on Wednesday, but held onto small gains at the close.

Hot and dry conditions in Argentina and southern Brazil helped keep a bit of a weather premium in soybeans, with concerns over yield losses in the region.

Meanwhile, soybeans in northern Brazil are closer to harvest but are dealing with excessive moisture which may hurt quality and hamper early harvest operations.

The United States Department of Agriculture announced private export sales of 132,000 tonnes of soybeans to unknown destinations this morning.

CORN was also supported by the South American weather worries, but turned lower on ideas the market was due for a correction after yesterday’s gains.

However, after climbing above US$6 per bushel on Tuesday, that psychological former resistance level was acting as support on Wednesday.

WHEAT was lower across the board, with the largest losses in Minneapolis spring wheat.

While declining crop ratings in key U.S. winter wheat growing states remained supportive, the futures were thought to be due for a correction after yesterday’s gains.

Ukraine’s agriculture ministry released preliminary production estimates for 2022, pegging the country’s upcoming crop at 28.4 million tonnes. That would be down by 4.3 million tonnes on the year due to a combination of dryness and high fertilizer prices.

The Western Producer

Tags: canola, prices, soybeans, wheat, soyoil, palm oil, corn