The ICE Futures canola market was mostly higher on Wednesday, with the largest gains in the nearby November contract as participants were busy rolling their positions out of the front month ahead of its expiry.
Gains in Chicago soyoil provided underlying support, with a lack of significant farmer selling also underpinning the futures. European rapeseed and Malaysian palm oil were both higher as well, while a weaker tone in the Canadian dollar also helped underpin canola.
Seasonal harvest pressure kept a lid on the upside, with canola holding in a narrow range from a chart standpoint.
About 53,445 canola contracts traded on Wednesday, which compares with Tuesday when 34,195 contracts changed hands. Spreading was a feature, accounting for 42,846 of the contracts traded.
SOYBEAN futures at the Chicago Board of Trade held near unchanged on Wednesday, as support from a rally in soyoil was countered by spillover selling pressure from losses in the grains and soymeal.
Gains in crude oil amid tightening supplies in the United States were supportive for world vegetable oil markets. However, expectations that more oil will be released from the country’s strategic reserves did cap the upside.
Meanwhile, soybeans found themselves pressured by the advancing harvest with conditions looking relatively favourable as the harvest enters its final stages.
Persistent issues for barge traffic along the Mississippi River were being followed, as the backlog along the key corridor slows export movement out of the Gulf of Mexico.
CORN was weaker Wednesday, as the advancing harvest weighed on values.
Weekly U.S. ethanol data showed production of the renewable fuel edged back above one million barrels per day in the past week, the first time production was above that level since the beginning of August.
However, ethanol stocks still dipped by 19,000 barrels, to 21.844 million barrels.
WHEAT was lower across the board, as shifting sentiment on the news out of Ukraine had a bearish influence.
While the declaration of martial law in Russian controlled regions of the war-torn country were another sign of the escalation of the conflict, the latest grain market expectations are for exports to continue to flow through the Black Sea – at least for the time being.
