By Marlo Glass, MarketFarm
WINNIPEG, April 23 (MarketsFarm) – Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) Futures canola contracts finished higher on Thursday, maintaining yesterday’s pricing trends.
Open interest in front month contracts were featured in trading activity, along with short covering ahead of the month’s end.
Strength in Chicago soy was a positive influence on canola prices. Market participants were optimistic that China will continue making soybean purchases.
Relative strength in the Canadian dollar kept some pressure on canola prices. The dollar was around 71 cents at midday.
Read Also
North American Grain/Oilseed Review: Canola rises, down day for grains
Glacier FarmMedia | MarketsFarm – Canola futures on the Intercontinental Exchange were higher on Friday despite weakness in most comparable…
On Thursday, 23,599 contracts were traded, which compares with Wednesday when 15,883 contracts changed hands. Spreading accounted for 17,990 contracts traded.
SOYBEAN futures at the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) were mostly higher on Wednesday, supported by steady export demand.
This morning, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) reported a private export sale of 272,000 tonnes of soybeans, purchased by China.
Last week, soybean export sales totalled just under 345,000 tonnes, which was on the lower end of trade expectations. That’s about half of the prior four-week average, but it was a 41 per cent increase from the previous week. Soybean cake and meal sales totalled about 103,000 tonnes, which was a lower than the prior four-week average. Soy oil sales last week totalled 21,000 tonnes, which was an increase from the previous week’s export sales.
CORN futures were slightly higher on Thursday.
Export sales totalled almost 727,000 tonnes lat week, which was down by 20 per cent from the previous week.
There are reports that China is looking to replenish its stockpiles by buying 20 million tonnes of corn.
Ethanol production was lower by 7,000 barrels per day, but stocks increased to total almost 28 million barrels due to the lack of demand.
WHEAT futures were mixed on Wednesday.
Last week, wheat export sales totalled just under 245,000 tonnes, which was a 37 per cent increase from the previous week. That was also on the higher end of trade expectations.
END
