By Dave Sims and Phil Franz-Warkentin, Commodity News Service Canada
Winnipeg, May 27 – THE ICE Futures Canada canola market finished mixed Friday, as spread-based action pushed the front-month contract below unchanged while the more-deferred contracts picked up modest gains.
Traders were also adjusting positions ahead of the Memorial Day long weekend in the US.
Rain in Western Canada has eased concerns about excess dryness.
Canola also continues to look somewhat expensive relative to other oilseeds.
However, the Canadian dollar was lower relative to its US
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Chicago Board of Trade soybeans and soyoil advanced while crushers looked for bargains.
Around 41,211 canola contracts were traded on Friday, which compares with Thursday when around 18,974 contracts changed hands. Spreading accounted for about 24,428 of the contracts traded.
Milling wheat, barley and durum were all untraded.
Settlement prices are in Canadian dollars per metric tonne.
SOYBEAN futures at the Chicago Board of Trade were up by five to nine cents per bushel on Friday, with persistent weather concerns in Argentina behind some of the strength.
Heavy rainfall in the South American country has cut into both the size and quality of this year’s crop, according to analysts.
There are also still plenty of question marks attached to this year’s US crop, with the potential for a shift to La Nina weather patterns bringing dryness to the Midwest.
Resistance held to the upside, with prices failing to move above the 20-month highs hit earlier in the week.
SOYOIL futures were up on Friday.
SOYMEAL futures were down on Friday, taking back some of the gains posted earlier in the week.
CORN futures in Chicago were up by two to four cents per bushel on Friday, hitting fresh 10-month highs as speculative short covering ahead of the long weekend provided support.
US markets will be closed Monday for Memorial Day.
Strong export demand, including a fresh sale of 130,000 tonnes of US corn to ‘unknown destinations’ added to the firmer tone.
However, farmer hedges and speculative profit-taking at the highs limited the advances.
WHEAT futures in Chicago were narrowly mixed on Friday, holding steady at the close after bouncing around in range-bound dealings throughout the session.
Excess moisture in the Southern Plains was somewhat supportive, but crop prospects remain relatively favourable for wheat crops on a global scale.
The US winter wheat harvest is just getting started in some locations, although the latest rains may be causing delays.
– The International Grains Council raised its estimate for global grain production in 2016/17 to 2.015 billion tonnes, which was up by 10 million tonnes from an earlier estimate. Of the total, wheat is forecast at 722 million tonnese.
– The IGC also raised its grain ending stocks forecast for the year by 2 million tonnes, to 474 million.
