By Phil Franz-Warkentin, Commodity News Service Canada
Winnipeg, Feb. 22 (CNS Canada) – ICE Futures canola contracts were mostly lower on Friday, as bearish technical signals and a lack of end user buying interest weighed on values ahead of the weekend.
Strength in the Canadian dollar, which moved above 76 U.S. cents, contributed to the softer tone.
Ample supplies in the commercial pipeline also weighed on prices.
Canadian grain companies only exported 69,900 tonnes of canola during the week ended Feb. 17, according to the latest Canadian Grain Commission data. That was well below the 205,500 tonnes exported the previous week. Meanwhile, farmer deliveries increased on the week and total visible supplies in the commercial pipeline moved back above one million tonnes.
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However, a steady tone in Chicago soybeans and soyoil throughout the day provided some support.
About 24,859 canola contracts traded on Friday, which compares with Thursday when 32,389 contracts changed hands. Spreading accounted for 15,018 of the contracts traded.
SOYBEAN futures at the Chicago Board of Trade traded to both sides of unchanged on Friday, settling with small losses in the most active front months.
The United States Department of Agriculture finally caught up on its reporting after the government shutdown and released six weeks of export data Friday morning. Old crop soybean export sales of 6.5 million tonnes during the period ended Feb. 14 were in line with trade guesses, but well above what was sold during the same six week period a year ago.
China was the major buyer, helping underscore the increasing optimism on the trade front as the U.S. and China continue to work on negotiating a deal.
At its annual Agriculture Outlook Forum, the USDA forecast soybean production in 2019/20 at 4.175 billion bushels, which would be down eight per cent from the 2018/19 record large crop. Ending stocks next year were estimated at 845 million bushels, which would be 65 million bushels below what’s expected for the current crop year.
CORN futures were steady to end the week.
U.S. corn export sales during the six weeks ended Feb. 14 came in at just over six million tonnes, which was at the higher end of trade guesses but behind the year-ago pace. Mexico and Japan were both major buyers.
The USDA expects corn carryout in the country to tighten to 1.65 billion bushels in 2019/20, despite an expected 3.3 per cent increase in production to 14.890 billion bushels as exports and domestic feed usage should also increase.
WHEAT futures were higher, with the biggest gains in Minneapolis spring wheat as the spreads between the three wheat contracts saw some adjustment.
U.S. wheat export sales during the six-weeks came in at around 3.6 million tonnes, beating expectations and the year-ago level.
The USDA forecast wheat ending stocks for 2019/20 at 944 million bushels, which compares with the expected carryout for the current marketing year of just over a billion bushels. Total U.S. wheat production in 2019/20 was forecast at 1.902 billion bushels.
