North American Grain/Oilseed Review: Canola, corn, wheat rise

Glacier FarmMedia | MarketsFarm — The ICE Futures canola market recovered on Tuesday from yesterday’s losses, albeit with mixed sentiment in comparable oils.

Chicago soyoil and Malaysian palm oil were higher, while European rapeseed was mixed. Crude oil prices were mixed as well due to protests at two Libyan ports and weak Chinese economic data.

One analyst said it would be “a good thing” if the March canola contract consolidated between C$630 and C$640 per tonne. Another analyst believes there could be a major selloff if United States President Donald Trump goes through with tariffs on Canadian goods.

At mid-afternoon, the Canadian dollar was down one-tenth of a U.S. cent compared to Monday’s close.

There were 42,683 canola contracts traded on Tuesday, which compares with Monday when 43,258 contracts changed hands. Spreading accounted for 23,588 of the contracts traded.

United States WHEAT futures had positive movement on Tuesday with Minneapolis spring wheat seeing double-digit gains.

Texas released its state crop production report on Monday, showing winter wheat conditions at 42 per cent good to excellent, similar to last week and well above the same week last year.

Tunisia tendered for 100,000 tonnes of optional origin milling wheat and another 100,000 tonnes of durum for March and April delivery.

European Union wheat exports totaled 12.8 million tonnes in the current marketing year as of Jan. 26, down from 19.35 million one year earlier.

CORN was higher for the first time in three sessions with the March contract peaking at nearly US$4.90 per bushel.

The United States Department of Agriculture reported private export sales of 139,000 tonnes of corn to Mexico and 132,000 tonnes to South Korea for later in the current marketing year.

Conab estimated safrinha corn crop planting in Brazil at 1.4 per cent complete, compared to 10.3 per cent last year due to weather concerns.

Because of similar issues in Argentina, crop consultant Dr. Michael Cordonnier cut his corn production estimate for that country by one million tonnes at 47 million. Meanwhile, he kept his estimate for Brazilian corn unchanged at 125 million tonnes.

SOYBEANS were steady in the March contract but higher in the deferreds. However, the nearby contract surpassed US$10.50/bu. during the day.

Conab reported the Brazilian soybean harvest at 3.2 per cent complete, compared to 8.6 per cent one year ago.

Cordonnier left his Brazilian soybean production estimate unchanged at 170 million tonnes while cutting Argentina’s by two million tonnes at 49 million.

ANEC estimated January soybean exports from Brazil at 1.5 million tonnes, down 720,000 from its previous projection.

Moderate to heavy rains are expected for much of Brazil over the next two weeks.

A media report said U.S. representative Beth Van Duyne from Texas introduced Bill HR 549, which would repeal 45Z tax credits for clean fuels.