North American Grain/Oilseed Review: Canola tumbles, corn, soybeans gain

Glacier FarmMedia | MarketsFarm – Canola ended its rally on the Intercontinental Exchange on Thursday as prices encountered resistance.

An analyst said canola may have undergone a correction after substantial gains in the previous two sessions. Weaker comparable oils and a stronger Canadian dollar also pressured prices.

Chicago soyoil and European rapeseed were lower while Malaysian palm oil was higher. Crude oil was down slightly amidst growing United States inventories and plans by OPEC+ to raise output by August.

At mid-afternoon, the loonie was up nearly one-third of a U.S. cent compared to Wednesday’s close.

There were 35,504 canola contracts traded on Thursday, which compares with Wednesday when 45,139 contracts changed hands. Spreading accounted for 12,276 of the contracts traded.

The Chicago Board of Trade closed this afternoon and won’t re-open until the evening of July 6 due to the Independence Day holiday on July 4.

SOYBEAN prices reached their highest level since June 24 before settling for a small gain on Thursday. This marked the third consecutive positive session, which hadn’t been seen since mid-June.

The United States Department of Agriculture reported weekly export sales of 462,400 tonnes of old crop soybeans during the week ended June 27, up 15 per cent from the previous week and up 62 per cent from the four-week average. In addition, 239,000 tonnes of new crop soybeans were also sold, which was at the higher end of trade expectations.

Old crop soymeal export sales totaled 306,200 tonnes for the week, as well as 397,400 tonnes of new crop. Old crop soyoil sales were 11,800 tonnes.

U.S. Census data reported May soybean exports at 1.6 million tonnes, down 26.8 per cent from April but up 13.1 per cent from last year. Soymeal exports were a May record of 1.36 million tonnes, while those for soyoil were a five-year high for May at 142,303 tonnes.

The USDA reported private export sales of 226,000 tonnes of old crop soybeans to unknown destinations this morning. Also, 195,000 tonnes of soymeal were also reported: 45,000 for old crop and 150,000 for new crop.

September CORN also reached its highest point since June 23 but settled for a smaller gain. The contract also had its first weekly gain since early June.

Old crop U.S. corn export sales declined from the week before at a marketing year low of 532,700 tonnes. However, the total was still nearly 50 per cent above the same week last year. New crop sales were a marketing year high of 940,200 tonnes with nearly three-quarters going to Mexico.

May U.S. corn exports totaled 7.29 million tonnes, up 22.1 per cent from last year. Ethanol exports were a record for May at 184.67 million gallons.

The USDA reported a private export sale of 150,000 tonnes of corn to unknown destinations this morning.

Between 25 to 50 millimetres of rain are expected for the Western Corn Belt next week. The Eastern Corn Belt will get up to 25 mm.

WHEAT contracts traded higher at some point during the day before ending the day lower, failing to extend their rally to a third day.

U.S. new crop export sales were 586,000 last week, at the high end of trade estimates. It was also a marketing year high and more than double the previous week.

May U.S. wheat exports were 2.16 million tonnes, a four-year high.

The Ukrainian National Academy of Agrarian Sciences said winter wheat and barley in the southern part of the country will be negatively affected by dry weather. However, higher yields in the central and western parts of the country could offset the losses.