By Glen Hallick, MarketsFarm
WINNIPEG, Jan. 3 (MarketsFarm) – Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) Futures canola contracts finished lower Friday, due to weaker values in the Chicago soy complex.
That in turn was due to the drone attack by the United States that killed a top Iranian general in Baghdad on Friday. The attack quickly increased tensions in the Middle East, which negatively impacted global markets.
With canola usually lagging far behind in gains for Chicago soyoil, the impact was not as severe, commented a trader.
By mid-afternoon Friday, the Canadian dollar was steady at 76.95 U.S. cents.
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There were 20,607 contracts traded on Friday, which compares with Thursday when 18,320 contracts changed hands. Spreading accounted for 12,686 contracts traded.
Settlement prices are in Canadian dollars per metric tonne.
Price Change
Canola Mar 478.30 dn 1.70
May 487.30 dn 1.80
Jul 493.00 dn 1.80
Nov 496.20 dn 1.80
SOYBEAN futures at the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) were weaker on Friday, primarily due to a United States drone attack that killed a top Iranian general.
In the latest tit-for-tat in the Middle East, U.S. President Donald Trump ordered a drone attack over the Baghdad International Airport, assassinating General Qassem Soleimani. Trump accused Soleimani of being behind this week’s attack on the U.S. embassy in Baghdad by pro-Iranian demonstrators. That protest came as a result of earlier U.S. drone attacks that killed pro-Iranian Iraqi militia leaders. The U.S. claimed they were responsible attacks on U.S. civilian and military installations in Iraq and Syria.
In the weekly export sales report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), for the weekend Dec. 26, soybean sales came in at 330,300 tonnes – a low for the 2019/20 marketing year. Soymeal export sales were at 94,700 tonnes, while soyoil incurred a net reduction of 1,900 tonnes.
The USDA issued a report on Friday in which it stated that Brazil will likely pass the U.S. as the world’s top producer of soybeans. The Global Agricultural Information Network (GAIN) report for Jan. 3 said the USDA expects Brazil to produce 123.5 million tonnes of soybeans, with dry conditions having little effect on the coming harvest. The report also pegged Brazil’s soybean exports to hit 75 million tonnes, for an increase of 2 million over last year. Also, Brazil will process 44 million tonnes of soybeans.
Today’s GAIN report also said crude palm oil production in Malaysia was forecast to drop by 200,000 tonnes to now 20.6 million. The report said prolonged dry conditions hurt the country’s production. Malaysia’s palm oil exports are expected to reach 18.2 million tonnes.
CORN futures were lower on Friday, following the drop in values.
The USDA’s export sales report said 531,400 tonnes of corn were sold last week, a decline of 15 per cent from the previous week.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported ethanol production was slightly lower for the week ended Dec. 27, with 1.06 million barrels per day, a drop of 1.6 per cent. However, that’s 5.4 per cent more than the same time last year. Stockpiles dropped by 435,000 barrels to now 21.03 million.
The Buenos Aires Grain Exchange (BAGE) reported that 83.5 per cent of Argentina’s corn crop has been planted. Argentine farmers are expected to seed close to 15.6 million acres this year.
WHEAT futures were weaker on Friday, due pessimism in the markets.
The USDA reported wheat export sales of 312,900 tonnes, which was a drop of 56 per cent from the previous week.
The BAGE reported that 92 per cent of Argentina’s wheat crop has been harvested.
