North American Grain/Oilseed Review: Canola settles mixed

The ICE Futures canola market was mixed on Monday, with losses in the nearby March contract and gains in the more deferred months. Speculative positioning was a feature on the last trading day of the month.

Gains in Chicago Board of Trade soybeans provided some underlying support for the Canadian oilseed, as beans hit fresh contract highs. However, soyoil was softer on the day and the Canadian dollar was stronger, which cuts into crush margins.

France’s Strategie Graines forecast European rapeseed production this upcoming year at 18.2 million tonnes, which would be up by 7.4 per cent from 2021.

Chinese markets are closed this week for the Lunar New Year holiday, limiting some activity.

About 18,072 canola contracts traded on Monday, which compares with Friday when 30,039 contracts changed hands. Spreading accounted for 8,494 of the contracts traded.

SOYBEAN futures at the Chicago Board of Trade hit fresh contract highs on Monday, but did run into some resistance to the upside.

Persistent dryness concerns out of South America were supportive, with overnight gains in Malaysian palm oil also underpinning the vegetable oil markets in general despite the eventual decline in Chicago soyoil.

Weekly United States soybean export inspections, at 1.4 million tonnes, were up slightly from the previous week, but well off what moved the same week a year ago.

Brazil’s harvest is estimated to be about 11 per cent complete, up from only 1.4 per cent at the same time a year ago.

CORN had seen some buying interest to start the day, but ran into resistance and followed wheat lower.

Weekly U.S. corn export inspections at just over a million tonnes were down slightly from both the week and year ago.

Seeding of Brazil’s second corn crop is underway, as farmers make progress taking soybeans off the fields.

WHEAT was down sharply, posting double digit losses after having started the day on a firmer footing.

Weekly U.S. wheat export inspections of 361,000 tonnes were down 12 per cent from the previous week.

The ongoing tensions between Russia and Ukraine kept some caution in the wheat market, as the two countries are major world wheat exporters. However, concerns were easing somewhat on Monday, contributing to the selloff.

The Western Producer

Tags: wheat, soyoil, futures, Market, corn, canola, soybeans