By Phil Franz-Warkentin, MarketsFarm
WINNIPEG, Jan. 27 (MarketsFarm) – The ICE Futures canola market was narrowly mixed at Friday’s close, with small gains in the front months and losses in the new crop contracts.
A rally in Malaysian palm oil provided some spillover support, while losses in the Chicago soy complex weighed on the other side.
Wide crush margins and solid end user demand remained supportive, with oversold price sentiment contributing to the advances in the old crop contracts.
Canada exported 174,700 tonnes of canola during the week ended Jan. 22, which was down from the 227,300 tonnes moved the previous week. However, year-to-date exports of 4.11 million tonnes continue to run well ahead of the previous year’s pace of 3.27 million.
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About 26,314 canola contracts traded on Friday, which compares with Thursday when 45,184 contracts changed hands. Spreading accounted for 20,260 of the contracts traded.
SOYBEAN futures at the Chicago Board of Trade were weaker on Friday, pressured by pre-weekend positioning and improving crop conditions in Argentina.
After recent rains, condition ratings for the soybean crop in Argentina improved to seven per cent good-to-excellent, from only three percent the previous week, according to a report from the Buenos Aires Grain Exchange. The amount in the poor category also improved to 54 per cent, from 60 per cent the previous week.
Forecasts call for more moisture in the dry country over the next week.
Solid weekly export demand announced Thursday remained somewhat supportive for beans, although there was no fresh news on Friday.
CORN futures were underpinned by speculative positioning ahead of the weekend but settled within a penny of unchanged in the most active months.
Argentina’s corn crop improved by five points in the good-to-excellent rating, now at 12 per cent, according to the Buenos Aires Grain Exchange. An estimated 39 per cent of the crop was rated poor, marking a 12-point improvement from the previous week.
Meanwhile, farmers in Brazil were reportedly making progress seeding their next corn crop.
WHEAT was mixed, with spreading between the three U.S. wheat markets behind some of the activity.
An estimated 59 per cent of the U.S. winter wheat crop is in a state of drought, a 10 point improvement from a month ago, according to the USDA.
The USDA’s Ag Attaché raised its forecast on Australia’s record wheat crop to 37 million tonnes, which compares with the official USDA projection of 36.6 million.
