By Phil Franz-Warkentin, Commodity News Service Canada
Winnipeg, Oct. 23 (CNS Canada) – ICE Futures canola contracts were lower on Tuesday, as seasonal harvest pressure and bearish technical signals weighed on prices.
Sunny and dry conditions across most of Western Canada were allowing farmers to make good harvest progress, with the resulting hedge pressure finding its way into the futures market.
Chart-based speculative selling contributed to the declines, as canola tested nearby technical support.
Losses in Chicago Board of Trade soyoil futures were also bearish.
Read Also
North American grain/oilseed review: Canola corrects higher
Glacier FarmMedia — The ICE Futures canola market settled higher for the first time in over a week, with chart-based…
Solid scale-down end-user demand provided some support. Forecasts calling for a return to wet weather by the weekend also kept some caution in the market.
About 23,089 canola contracts traded, which compares with Monday when 19,333 contracts changed hands. Spreading accounted for 10,842 of the contracts traded.
SOYBEAN futures posted small losses on Tuesday after trading to both sides of unchanged.
The United States soybean harvest was 53 per cent complete in the latest weekly U.S. Department of Agriculture report, which was in line with market expectations, but well off the average pace for this time of year of 69 per cent.
Condition ratings were left unchanged at 66 per cent good to excellent.
Relatively solid export demand, despite the ongoing trade dispute with China, was somewhat supportive.
Seeding progress in Brazil was running ahead of normal, according to reports out of the South American country.
CORN futures were slightly firmer, but remain range-bound overall.
The U.S. corn harvest was 49 per cent complete in the latest weekly report, which was slightly behind trade estimates, but two points ahead of average for this time of year.
Condition ratings for the corn still remaining were left unchanged at 68 per cent good to excellent.
WHEAT futures were narrowly mixed, seeing some consolidation following recent declines.
The U.S. winter wheat crop was 72 per cent seeded in the weekly USDA report. That was behind average trade estimates and the five-year average of 77 per cent complete. Emergence was two points off the average, at 53 per cent.
While the slower planting pace was supportive, poor export demand kept a lid on the upside with U.S. wheat still looking to uncover more global buying interest.
