North American Grain/Oilseed Review: Canola, grains continue to rise

Glacier FarmMedia MarketsFarm -– The ICE Futures canola market had its best session in a little over a month on Thursday, with prices unseen since the beginning of August.

Chicago soyoil, European rapeseed and Malaysian palm oil were all higher, giving support to the oilseed. Crude oil was up US$1 per barrel due to welcome economic data from the United States as well as production issues in Libya.

One analyst said an inversion in soyoil prices piqued his interest, and he raised the possibility of short-covering in canola and export purchases of the oilseed by China combining to lift prices.

At mid-afternoon, the Canadian dollar was steady compared to Wednesday’s close.

There were 49,848 canola contracts traded on Thursday, which compares with Wednesday when 32,191 contracts changed hands. Spreading accounted for 23,658 of the contracts traded.

SOYBEAN prices at the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) rose for the third straight day on Thursday, its best day since Aug. 19. The December contract hit a 17-day high, but still not enough to reach US$10 per bushel.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) reported 143,600 tonnes of net export sales reductions for old crop soybeans during the week ended Aug. 22. However, 2.616 million tonnes of new crop soybeans were sold mostly to China and unknown destinations, above the higher end of trade expectations.

For soymeal, 21,200 tonnes of old crop and 428,900 tonnes of new crop were sold for export. For soyoil, 1,100 tonnes of old crop and 2,300 tonnes of new crop were also sold.

The U.S. National Oilseed Processors Association (NOPA)  announced it’s opposing proposed new measures by California to cap the use of vegetable oils, including soyoil and canola oil, as feedstock for biofuel production. One of the amendments would limit the portion of biodiesel made from vegetable oils at 20 per cent.

WHEAT prices for all three major U.S. varieties made gains for the third consecutive day, with their December contracts hitting weekly highs.

In total, 532,100 tonnes of new crop U.S. wheat were sold for export last week, up slightly from the previous week.

Ukraine shipped 6.75 million tonnes of grain so far in the 2024-25 marketing year, up 2.15 million tonnes from one year ago, according to its ag ministry. That figure included 3.4 million tonnes of wheat.

Argus Media forecasted French soft wheat exports outside the European Union to fall 60 per cent compared to last year at 4.1 million tonnes in 2024-25. However, it kept its production estimate unchanged at 25.17 million tonnes, France’s smallest wheat crop since the 1980s.

The European Union estimated wheat production at 116.1 million tonnes, down from its previous estimate of 120.8 million. Exports were pegged at 26 million tonnes, six million less than the previous estimate, with stocks up 1.8 million tonnes from last month at 12.5 million.

The December CORN contract was higher on Thursday, but hasn’t rallied since early August. The contract has been under US$4/bu. over the past eight days.

The USDA reported 15,600 tonnes of old crop U.S. corn were sold for export last week, down 87 per cent from the previous week. In addition, 1.494 million tonnes of new crop corn were sold, just above the higher end of trade expectations.

Ukraine’s ag ministry said the country has exported 2.2 million tonnes of corn so far in the 2024-25 marketing year.

India’s monsoon rains could extend into late September this year, which could damage summer-sown crops such as corn and soybeans but could benefit winter-sown crops such as wheat and rapeseed.