North American grain/oilseed review: Canola dips as loonie soars

Glacier FarmMedia | MarketsFarm — The ICE Futures canola market was weaker Thursday, taking back some of Wednesday’s gains as strength in the Canadian dollar more than countered support the advances in Chicago soyoil.

The currency was up by more than half of a cent relative to its United States counterpart, which cuts into canola crush margins and makes exports less attractive for international buyers.

Positioning ahead of Friday’s Statistics Canada acreage report behind some of the activity. Canola prices have trended higher since the planting intentions report was released in March. Trade opinions divided on whether the actual area will be up or down from the initial 21.6-million-acre forecast.

There were 50,652 contracts traded on Thursday, which compares with Wednesday when 60,102 contracts changed hands. Spreading accounted for 27,308 of the contracts traded.

SOYBEAN futures at the Chicago Board of Trade were weaker Thursday, as good weather conditions across United States growing areas continued to weigh on prices.

Positioning ahead of next week’s acreage estimates from the U.S. Department of Agriculture was a feature. Quarterly stocks data will also be released June 30.

Gains in crude oil and weakness in the U.S. dollar provided some support, helping temper the declines.

Weekly U.S. soybean export sales of around 400,000 tonnes were in line with expectations, with additional flash business of 110,000 tonnes of soybeans to Egypt also reported.

CORN fell to fresh contract lows, also pressured by the near ideal U.S. growing weather and expectations for larger planted area in the upcoming acreage data.

Weekly U.S. corn export sales of about 740,000 tonnes were in line with expectations, but the lowest since the first week of January.

The International Grains Council lowered their call for world corn production in 2025/26 by one million tonnes from an earlier estimate, now pegging the crop at 1.276 billion tonnes.

WHEAT futures were weaker, as seasonal harvest pressure and a lack of major weather concerns continued to weigh on prices.

Weekly U.S. wheat export sales came in below the low end of trade estimates at about 255,000 tonnes.

The IGC raised its estimate for world wheat production in 2025/26 by two million tonnes, to 808 million tonnes.