North American Grain/Oilseed Review: Canola rises, grains mixed

Glacier FarmMedia | MarketsFarm — The ICE Futures canola market maintained positive momentum, aided by rising comparable oils.

Chicago soyoil, European rapeseed and Malaysian palm oil were all higher. Crude oil also made gains despite a buildup of United States inventories.

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada raised its estimates for both 2024-25 and 2025-26 canola stocks by 50,000 tonnes at 1.3 million and one million tonnes, respectively. The looming threat of tariffs on Canadian canola also prompted increased buying activity.

At mid-afternoon, the Canadian dollar was up two-tenths of a U.S. cent compared to Wednesday’s close.

There were 43,197 contracts traded on Thursday, which compares with Wednesday when 54,224 contracts changed hands. Spreading accounted for 31,526 of the contracts traded.

The March SOYBEAN contract had its biggest one-day gain on the Chicago Board of Trade since Feb. 4 on Thursday. However, the contract still failed to surpass the previous day’s high.

The International Grains Council cut its global soybean production estimate by two million tonnes at 418 million due to reduced projections in Argentina and Paraguay.

India has cancelled orders for 70,000 tonnes of Malaysian palm oil this week scheduled for delivery between March and June due to a surge in prices and negative refining margins. India has also seen an influx of cheaper soyoil as of late.

The March CORN contract showed little movement on Thursday and stayed below the US$5 per bushel mark for the second straight day.

The IGC reduced its forecast for 2024-25 worldwide corn production by three million tonnes at 1.216 billion, largely due to diminishing outlooks in Brazil and Argentina. Brazil’s production estimate was lessened by 1.3 million tonnes at 123.3 million, while Argentina’s was cut by one million at 53 million.

Much of Argentina will see temperatures exceed 35 degrees Celsius later this week followed by rainfall, according to the Buenos Aires Grain Exchange.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported average ethanol production for the week ended Feb. 14 at 1.084 million barrels per day, up 2,000 from the previous week. Ethanol stocks rose 526,000 barrels at 26.218 million.

U.S. oil and biofuel industry groups have joined forces and sent a letter to convince the Environmental Protection Agency to boost renewable fuel mandates for 2026 and beyond.

Ukraine’s farm minister said its exportable grain surplus was projected at 41.9 million tonnes, including 22.1 million tonnes of corn.

A Taiwan importer purchased 65,000 tonnes of corn from the U.S. on Wednesday.

All three major U.S. WHEAT varieties saw declines for the second straight day. That included the March Minneapolis spring wheat contract reaching its highest level since last October before ending the session in the red.

The IGC raised its prospects for the worldwide wheat harvest by one million tonnes at 797 million. Projections for the crop in Kazakhstan were raised 600,000 tonnes at 18.6 million.

Ukraine could export 16.2 million tonnes of wheat in the 2024-25 marketing year, the country’s farm minister said.

Despite colder temperatures in both the U.S. and Russia as of late, wheat crops are not expected to see winterkill due to snow cover.

Warm, dry weather in India may force the government to cut or eliminate import duties on wheat.

Taiwan tendered for 102,450 tonnes of U.S. wheat this morning.