By Phil Franz-Warkentin, Commodity News Service Canada
Winnipeg, Sep. 26 (CNS Canada) – ICE Futures canola contracts were stronger on Wednesday, as persistent Prairie weather concerns, gains in the Chicago soy complex and weakness in the Canadian dollar all provided support.
Cool and wet conditions continue to stall harvest operations across much of Western Canada, raising concerns over yield and quality losses, according to traders.
Chart-based buying added to the firmer tone in canola, with the November contract trading above the 20-day moving average for the first time since August.
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However, forecasts calling for improving harvest weather in some areas over the next week put some pressure on values. Ideas that canola remains expensive compared to other oilseeds also tempered the gains.
About 16,698 canola contracts traded, which compares with Tuesday when 11,392 contracts changed hands. Spreading accounted for 7,860 of the contracts traded.
SOYBEAN futures at the Chicago Board of Trade were higher on Wednesday, as speculative short-covering and fresh export demand provided support.
The United States Department of Agriculture announced a flash sale of 650,000 tonnes of soybeans to Mexico this morning.
Harvest-delaying rains in parts of the Midwest also underpinned the futures.
However, yields are still expected to be large overall, which kept a lid on the market. The ongoing trade dispute between the U.S. and China also remained a bearish influence, as Chinese buyers turn to South America instead.
CORN futures posted small losses, with rising South American production prospects behind some of the weakness.
The Buenos Aires Grain Exchange forecast a 43 million tonne corn crop in Argentina this crop year, which would be up by about 11 million tonnes from the drought-stricken previous year.
A slight slowdown in weekly U.S. ethanol production also weighed on corn prices.
WHEAT futures were slightly weaker, after trading to both sides of unchanged.
Positioning ahead of Thursday’s weekly export sales report and Friday’s USDA supply/demand report accounted for some of the activity in wheat.
While production concerns in a number of wheat growing regions of the world remain supportive, U.S. wheat still looks expensive internationally.
