By Glen Hallick, MarketsFarm
WINNIPEG, Aug. 1 (MarketsFarm) – Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) Futures canola contracts were weaker on Thursday, due to pressure from the soy complex in Chicago.
In turn, the soy complex was down as the interest rate cut by the United States Federal Reserve provided support for the U.S. dollar, hurting the country’s exports.
However, by the end of the session a lower Canadian dollar helped to temper those losses. The loonie fell below 76 U.S. cents and was at 75.60 by mid-afternoon on Thursday.
Read Also
North American Grain and Oilseed Review: Canola stronger on comparable oils
By Glen Hallick, MarketsFarm Glacier Farm Media MarketsFarm – Intercontinental Exchange canola futures were stronger on Thursday, in gleaning support…
The overall amount of spreads was down as rolling contracts out of November hasn’t begun, according to a Winnipeg-based analyst.
There were 12,227 contracts traded on Thursday, which compares with Wednesday when 12,241 contracts changed hands. Spreading accounted for 3,872 contracts traded.
Settlement prices are in Canadian dollars per metric tonne.
Price Change
Canola Nov 442.00 dn 1.50
Jan 449.80 dn 1.30
Mar 456.70 dn 1.50
May 462.90 dn 1.00
SOYBEAN futures at the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) were lower on Thursday, due to the interest rate cut by the United States Federal Reserve.
The Fed drop rates on Wednesday by 25 points, which boosted the value of the U.S. dollar, which made the country’s exports more expensive. Also, the U.S. central bank’s chair, Jerome Powell, declined commit to more rate cuts and that pushed the markets lower.
U.S. President Donald Trump announced he will hike tariffs on US$300 billion of imports from China by another 10 per cent on Sept. 1. Trade talks, which ended yesterday in Shanghai are scheduled to resume next month in Washington, D.C. Trump’s announcement had a negative effect on the markets.
The USDA released its weekly export sales report earlier today, with old crop soybean net sales at 143,100 tonnes, which were about in the middle of trade expectations and an 18 per cent increase from previous week. New crop soybeans came in at 305,500 tonnes, which was with trade predictions. Soymeal and soy cake sales were at 113,500 tonnes, up 30 per cent from last week.
China purchased nearly 135,000 tonnes of old and new crop soybeans earlier today. However, China cancelled a purchase for 21,000 tons of U.S. pork.
Datagro Consultoria estimated the Brazil 2019/20 soybean crop at 125.0 million to 126.0 million tonnes. The 2018/19 crop came in around 116.8 million tonnes, which was short of the 122.0 million tonnes many analysts hoped for. Datagro projected the country’s exports to reach 78.0 million tonnes, for an increase of 6.3 million.
CORN futures were weaker on Thursday, following weak export data from the USDA.
There were 143,100 tonnes of old crop corn sold in this week’s report, for an increase of 18 per cent compared to the previous report. However, the exports were 43 per cent below the four-week average. New crop sales were 129,600 tonnes. Both crops were under trade expectations.
Datagro Consultoria estimated Brazil’s 2019/20 corn production at almost 104.3 million tonnes, for an increase of more than 4.25 million. The firm pegged the country’s exports at 40 million tonnes, an increase of 15 million.
WHEAT futures were down on Thursday, due to spillover from soybeans and corn.
At 383,100 tonnes, wheat sales fell 42 per cent from the previous week, but a little above the low end of trade expectations.
Ukraine’s grain harvest reached 86 per complete, with approximately 24.1 million tonnes of wheat and 7.8 million tonnes of barley. Grain exports in July jumped 54 per cent to 3.7 million tonnes.
Strategie Grains estimated the French soft wheat crop at 39.0 million tonnes, up 5.2 million from last year.
In international sales, South Korea has tendered for 50,000 tonnes of U.S. wheat and 31,700 tonnes of Canadian wheat. The tender closes Aug. 2.
