North American Grain/Oilseed Review: Canola finds support, grains mixed

Glacier FarmMedia MarketsFarm — After a heavy downturn on Tuesday, the ICE Futures canola market recovered somewhat on Wednesday, with prices fueled by rising comparable oil prices.

Crude oil gained more than US$2 per barrel due to shrinking United States inventories and the death of a Hamas leader after a missile strike in Tehran. Chicago soyoil, European rapeseed and Malaysian palm oil also made gains.

At mid-afternoon, the Canadian dollar was up nearly two-tenths of a U.S. cent compared to Tuesday’s close. The U.S. Federal Reserve announced it will leave its key interest rate unchanged, but suggested a rate cut was coming soon.

There were 48,579 canola contracts traded on Wednesday, which compares with Tuesday when 70,128 contracts changed hands. Spreading accounted for 16,672 of the contracts traded.

The September CORN contract sunk to a new contract low at the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) on Wednesday, dropping to US$3.81 per bushel before closing at US$3.8275. It was its third decline in four sessions.

The next five days are expected to be dry in the southern United States Midwest, while the northern Midwest, Northern Plains and parts of Canada will be drier for the next five days after.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported 1.109 million barrels of ethanol produced per day on average for the week ended July 26, the most in a single week ever. Ethanol stocks were up 250,000 barrels at 23.973 million.

The Ukrainian Grain Traders Union cut its grain and oilseed production estimate by 2.8 million tonnes at 71.8 million due to adverse weather. Ukrainian grain exports in July are expected to total 3.4 million tonnes compared to 2.2 million in June, according to the country’s ag ministry.

Taiwan purchased 65,000 tonnes of Brazilian corn for September-October shipment.

SOYBEAN prices at the CBOT ended a three-day slump on Wednesday with slight gains.

Some rain is in the forecast over the next seven days for soybean growing areas in the U.S., while the week after should see milder temperatures and more precipitation.

Soybean imports into the European Union during the 2024-25 marketing year totaled 920,000 tonnes as of July 28, just below last year’s pace. Soymeal imports in the EU were 1.3 million tonnes, also below last year’s pace.

The September Chicago WHEAT contract made a small gain on Wednesday, while the September Kansas City hard red and Minneapolis spring wheat contracts showed declines.

EU soft wheat exports in the first four weeks of the marketing year totaled 1.85 million tonnes, down from 2.99 million last year.

Private estimates from Australia have reached 30 million tonnes for the country’s wheat crop due to timely rains, ahead of last year’s total of 26 million.

Producers group AGPB suggested that France’s soft wheat crop could fall to 26 million tonnes this year, a level unseen since the 1980s, due to heavy rains.

The Rosario Grain Exchange said in a report that freezing temperatures in Argentine wheat growing areas on Monday could have aggravated the crop and may limit production.