North American grain/oilseed review: Canola backs off nearby highs

By Phil Franz-Warkentin

Glacier FarmMedia MarketsFarm — The ICE Futures canola market was weaker on Wednesday, backing away from the two-and-a-half month highs hit Tuesday as losses in outside markets weighed on values.

Sharp declines in crude oil spilled into world vegetable oil markets on Wednesday, with Chicago soyoil, European rapeseed and Malaysian palm oil all lower.

The temporary pause on tariff threats from the United States remained somewhat supportive, although the likelihood of continued chaos from the Trump administration kept some caution in all markets.

Solid end user demand and tightening supply projections provided underlying support for canola, with values also holding above most major moving averages from a technical standpoint.

There were 38,629 contracts traded on Wednesday, which compares with Tuesday when 57,073 contracts changed hands. Spreading accounted for 23,084 of the contracts traded.

SOYBEAN futures at the Chicago Board of trade were weaker on Wednesday, as improving South American weather forecasts and losses in crude oil weighed on values.

Dry areas of Argentina are forecast to receive some beneficial rains over the next few days. Meanwhile, farmers in Brazil continue to make progress bringing in this year’s crop.

News China was going forward with a complaint against the United States at the World Trade Organization contributed to the losses, amid expectations China may cancel some previous business and shift more soybean purchases to Brazil.

A meeting between Donald Trump and the Chinese President Xi Jinping has been delayed for the time being, contributing to the weakness in the futures.

CORN futures were also pressured by the better South American weather and Chinese trade concerns.

However, private export sales of 330,000 tonnes of U.S. corn to Mexico announced this morning were supportive.

WHEAT was weaker across the board, after running into selling pressure after early gains.

Reports China was delaying purchases of 600,000 tonnes of wheat, mainly from Australia, accounted for some of the weakness. The news was seen as a general sign of easing global wheat demand.