North American Grain and Oilseed Review: Canola clings to smaller increases
Harvest pressure, profit-taking weigh on CBOT values
Intercontinental Exchange canola futures were mostly higher on Friday, with gains in the upfront contracts as the more deferred positions edged lower.
Support for canola came from another round of sharp increases in Malaysian palm oil along with modest upticks in European rapeseed. The Chicago soy complex failed to hang on to earlier gains, finishing the day on a lower note. Small upswings in crude oil spilled into the vegetable oils.
While the November canola contract remained above major support levels, it was short of its 200-day moving average.
Harvest pressure on canola continued to dissipate as the Prairie harvest approached the finish line. However, rain over the weekend and more during the coming week could slow progress.
By mid-afternoon Friday, the Canadian dollar fell back to 73.66 U.S. cents compared to Thursday’s close of 73.86.
There were 87,710 contracts traded on Friday, compared to 69,075 on Thursday. Spreading accounted for 66,114 contracts traded.
Prices are in Canadian dollars per metric tonne:
Price Change Canola Nov 624.90 up 2.90 Jan 637.00 up 1.00 Mar 647.80 up 0.20 May 654.50 dn 0.50
SOYBEAN futures at the Chicago Board of Trade turned lower on Friday after earlier gains as the weight of the domestic harvest started to be felt.
The United States Department of Agriculture announced a private sale for 116,000 tonnes of current crop soybeans to China.
A tentative deal was announced in the strike at U.S. East Coast and Gulf Mexico ports that was leading to bottlenecks in the country’s supply chain . Longshore workers, who returned to work Friday, will receive a 62 per cent pay hike over the next six years.
Archer-Daniel-Midland will temporarily close its Des Moines crushing plant in mid-October for maintenance. The plant crushes an average of five million bushels of soybeans per month.
Sharp hikes in Malaysian palm oil were due to shrinking supplies and the European Union delaying its deforestation regulations for a year.
India announced it plans to reduce its edible oil imports by encouraging greater domestic production. Currently India produces about 12.7 million tonnes of edible oils, with the government’s US$1.2 billion plan to boost that to 25.45 million tonnes by 2030/31.
CORN futures remained lower Friday, due to harvest pressure.
The USDA reported there’s a private sale for 198,000 tonnes of current crop corn to unknown destinations.
The Buenos Aires Grain Exchange pegged planting of Argentina’s corn crop at about 14 per cent finished.
Ukraine reported its total grain exports so far into the 2024/25 marketing year exceeded 11 million tonnes of which three million were corn. Last year at this time, Ukraine exported a total of 6.8 million tonnes of grain.
France reported its corn harvest was a mere two per cent complete, versus the five-year average of 23 per cent done. Wet conditions have slowed field operations, but the corn still rated 79 per cent good to excellent, unchanged from last week.
South Africa nudged up its call on its 2024/25 corn production to 19 million tonnes.
WHEAT futures were lower on Friday due to profit-taking.
Egypt, the world’s biggest wheat importer, said it’s looking to cut its reliance on foreign wheat by adding corn or sorghum as ingredients for the country’s bread.
France said its soft wheat crop was one per cent planted as of Sept. 30.
Ukraine pegged its grain harvest at 77 per cent finished, with 37.3 million tonnes so far, with 22.30 million of wheat. Its wheat exports at this point in the 2024/25 marketing year were 6.4 million tonnes.
Kazakhstan reported its grain harvest was 90 per cent done at 22.70 million tonnes, of which 17.30 million is wheat.
