North American Grain and Oilseed Review: More declines for canola
Good weather weighs on CBOT values
Intercontinental Exchange canola futures closed lower on Wednesday, settling off of session lows.
An analyst said fund selling along with some farmer selling have been pushing down canola prices. He added farmers at this time are largely cash-adequate, not needing to part with their canola.
The analyst also raised concerns about the tariff policies of the incoming Trump administration. Should tariffs be enacted in 2025, such would be quite detrimental to canola and other grains.
Losses in the Chicago soy complex, European rapeseed and Malaysian palm oil added more pressure on to canola. Small upticks in crude oil tried to temper further losses in the vegetable oils.
At mid-afternoon Wednesday the Canadian dollar fell to 71.47 U.S. cents compared to Tuesday’s close of 71.72.
There were 38,228 contracts traded on Wednesday, compared to 62,874 on Tuesday. Spreading accounted for 20,686 contracts traded.
Prices are in Canadian dollars per metric tonne:
Price Change Canola Jan 649.10 dn 9.30 Mar 661.50 dn 9.60 May 668.70 dn 10.30 Jul 669.90 dn 11.50
SOYBEAN futures at the Chicago Board of Trade were lower on Wednesday due to favourable weather.
The United States weather outlook called for rain over the Central and Southwest Plains, while the Northern Plains and Midwest are to be drier.
Good weather has been forecast for Brazil and Argentina, helping with their crops.
The trade policies of President-elect Donald Trump continued to have the markets concerned. One report suggested Trump’s pick of former New York Rep. Lee Zeldin, who’s said to be pro-fossil fuel, to head the Environmental Protection Agency was a reason why soyoil futures were in decline.
In the crop progress report, the U.S. Department of Agriculture nudged up the soybean harvest by two points at 96 per cent complete as of Nov. 10. That put it five points ahead of the five-year average.
While the Chinese Agriculture Ministry projected the country’s 2024/25 soybean imports at 94.50 million tonnes, the state-owned food processing company COFCO pegged those imports at 98.80 million tonnes.
CORN futures stepped back on Wednesday, caught up in the spillover from soybeans and wheat.
The USDA announced two private sales of current crop corn, with 401,357 tonnes to Mexico and 290,820 tonnes to unknown destinations.
The U.S. corn harvest was at 95 per cent complete, up four points from a week ago and 11 above the five-year average.
South Korea is said to have purchased between 133,000 to 138,000 tonnes of corn.
WHEAT futures were lower on Wednesday due to favourable crop conditions.
The USDA calculated winter wheat planted at 91 per cent finished, progressing four points from the previous week and two behind the five-year average. The crop rated 44 per cent good to excellent, up three points on the week.
Russian agricultural good transporter, Rusagrotrans, estimated the country’s 2025/26 winter wheat plantings at 38.05 million acres, the lowest amount since 2018/19. Output was projected to be 84.50 million tonnes.
France reduced its call on its 2024/25 soft wheat exports to 3.90 million tonnes from four million in October. Total exports were projected to drop 40 per cent from 2023/24.
