North American Grain/Oilseed Review: Canola, grains move upward

Glacier FarmMedia | MarketsFarm – The ICE Futures canola market made small gains on Monday to go with mixed movement in comparable oils.

Chicago soyoil and European rapeseed were higher, while Malaysian palm oil was down. Crude oil was also down despite Saudi Arabia raising its own prices to Asian buyers.

One analyst said that while there is currently a heatwave in South American soybean growing areas, there is little to suggest soybean prices will rise sharply. The analyst also anticipates prices to eventually go down to US$9 per bushel or lower.

At mid-afternoon, the Canadian dollar was up nearly four-tenths of a United States cent compared to Friday’s close. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced his resignation this morning with his successor to be determined in the coming weeks.

There were 35,505 canola contracts traded on Monday, which compares with Friday when 32,412 contracts changed hands. Spreading accounted for 12,394 of the contracts traded.

After suffering significant losses on Friday, WHEAT prices at the Chicago Board of Trade recovered most, if not all their losses on Monday.

The United States Department of Agriculture reported wheat shipments during the week ended Jan. 2 totaled 412,342 tonnes, up 21.6 per cent from the previous week but down 17.85 per cent from one year ago.

Accumulated wheat exports for the marketing year totaled 12.718 million tonnes, up 25.1 per cent from this time last year.

Indian wheat prices have jumped to record highs due to dwindling supplies and strong demand, up 35 per cent from April at US$384.66 per tonne.

Taiwan tendered for 114,650 tonnes of wheat from the U.S.

The March SOYBEAN contract moved back above US$10 per bushel on Monday, but could only hold onto smaller gains.

The USDA reported 1.285 million tonnes of soybeans shipped, down 21.8 per cent from the previous week but up 23.5 per cent from last year.

Accumulated soybean exports so far this marketing year were up 23.2 per cent from one year ago at 29.956 million tonnes.

The Buenos Aires Grain Exchange reported that Argentina’s soybean growing area with adequate to optimal water conditions shrank by seven points at 81 per cent due to persistent heat and dryness.

The March CORN contract surpassed US$4.60 per tonne for the first time since June, but ended the day below the mark.

The USDA reported that 847,463 tonnes of corn were shipped for export during the week ended Jan. 2, down 6.6 per cent from last week and down 22.4 per cent from last year.

For the marketing year to date, U.S. corn exports totaled 16.236 million tonnes, up 24.5 per cent from one year ago.

Heat and dryness are starting to affect Argentina’s corn crop, the BAGE said, with symptoms of water stress beginning to be observed in southern regions.