The ICE Futures canola market was weaker on Wednesday, although activity was choppy with prices finishing well off their session lows as the market attempted to find its footing after sharper declines earlier in the week.
The most-active November contract dipped below the psychological C$800 per tonne mark in overnight activity but settled well above that chart level – losing only C$3.30 on the day at C$825.30 at the close.
Continued losses in Chicago soyoil weighed on canola, with crude oil and Malaysian palm oil also weaker. However, gains in European rapeseed and losses in the Canadian dollar provided some underlying support.
End user buying underneath the market and a lack of significant farmer selling also helped temper the declines in canola amid ideas that the recent losses were starting to look overdone.
About 24,413 canola contracts traded on Wednesday, which compares with Tuesday when 27,105 contracts changed hands. Spreading accounted for 12,934 of the contracts traded.
SOYBEAN futures at the Chicago Board of Trade saw some strength on Wednesday, seeing a modest recovery after recent losses despite ongoing weakness in soyoil.
Declining crop ratings contributed to the gains, with the United States soybean crop losing two points in the good-to-excellent category in the latest U.S. Department of Agriculture report – at 63 per cent.
Emergence was in line with the average at 96 per cent, although only seven per cent of the crop was blooming which was slightly behind normal for this time of year.
Forecasts calling for rain over the next week should help the condition ratings stabilize or improve in upcoming reports.
CORN traded to both sides of unchanged, moving higher in sympathy with soybeans by the close.
Condition ratings dipped slightly corn, with 64 per cent of the U.S. crop deemed good-to-excellent in the latest report. That was down three points from the previous week.
WHEAT was weaker, seeing follow-through selling as the path of least resistance appears to be pointed lower.
The advancing U.S. winter wheat harvest contributed to the declines, with 54 per cent of the crop off the fields. That was up six points from the normal for this time of year.
Improving condition ratings for the U.S. spring wheat crop were also bearish, as the crop moved up seven points in the good-to-excellent category to 66 per cent.
Ukraine expects to harvest at least 50 million tonnes of grain this year, excluding oilseeds, according to reports out of the country. While down sharply from last year’s 86 million tonnes, it would still be a relatively good crop considering the ongoing conflict.
