North American Grain/Oilseed Review: Canola settles mixed

The ICE Futures canola market was mixed at Tuesday’s close, posting small gains in the front months and losses in the more deferred positions.
Conflicting outside influences kept some caution in the canola market. Chicago Board of Trade soyoil was stronger on the day, but European rapeseed and Malaysian palm oil were both weaker.
Small bouts of speculative profit-taking kept a lid on the upside in canola, but the underlying fundamentals of tight supplies and the need to ration demand remained supportive overall.
About 17,611 canola contracts traded on Tuesday, which compares with Monday when 24,910 contracts changed hands. Spreading accounted for 10,402 of the contracts traded.
SOYBEAN futures at the Chicago Board of Trade were weaker on Tuesday, as losses in soymeal were more than enough to pull the market down despite solid gains in soyoil.

The United States soybean harvest was 95 per cent complete as of this past Sunday, according to the latest U.S. Department of Agriculture weekly report. That was only one point behind the average for this time of year.

Positioning ahead of the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday was a feature. U.S. markets will be closed Thursday and only trade at reduced hours on Friday.

CORN held onto small gains, finding some spillover support from the continued strength in wheat.

The U.S. corn harvest is nearing completion, with only five per cent of the crop left on the fields, according to the latest weekly USDA report. That’s up slightly from the 92 per cent average for this time of year. The resulting slowdown in seasonal harvest pressure added to the firmer tone.

However, relatively good prospects out of South America kept a lid on the upside.

WHEAT hit fresh contract highs for the second-straight session, seeing a continuation of yesterday’s rally.

Declining condition ratings for the U.S. crop contributed to the advances, with 44 per cent of the U.S. winter wheat now rated good-to-excellent. That’s down two points from the previous week. Seeding was nearing completion, at 96 per cent done, with 86 per cent emerged.

Rains at harvest time in Australia have slowed progress and raised quality concerns in the country.

The Western Producer

Tags: wheat, soyoil, rapeseed, palm oil, canola market, futures, soymeal, gains, corn, soybean