North American Grain/Oilseed Review: Canola up, grains steady

Glacier FarmMedia | MarketsFarm — The ICE Futures canola market was stronger on Thursday, as gains in Chicago soyoil and weakness in the Canadian dollar provided support.

The July contract briefly traded above C$700 per tonne but ran into resistance and backed off its highs by the close.

A rally in Chicago soyoil provided spillover support, with soybeans also higher on the back of solid weekly exports and despite good U.S. seeding weather.

Tightening old crop supplies and the need to ration demand were also supportive. However, ideas the 2024 crop was larger than official estimates pressured values.

European rapeseed and Malaysian palm oil markets were closed for May 1 holidays after posting losses on Wednesday.

There were 40,723 contracts traded on Thursday, which compares with Wednesday when 35,359 contracts changed hands. Spreading accounted for 20,948 of the contracts traded.

CORN prices at the Chicago Board of Trade dropped for the third time in four sessions on Thursday. However, the July contract remained above the lows set in the previous two days.

The United States Department of Agriculture reported 1.014 million tonnes of old crop corn were sold for export during the week ended April 24, down 12 per cent from the previous week, but up 33.7 per cent from the same week last year. In addition, 244,700 tonnes of new crop corn were also sold, more than what the trade expected and the second largest amount this marketing year.

The USDA also reported a private export sale of 120,000 tonnes of corn this morning to unknown destinations.

Ukrainian farm lobby UCAB said the country had 4.1 million tonnes of agricultural exports in April, down 23 per cent from the month before. So far this marketing year, Ukraine has exported 35.1 million tonnes of grain.

The July SOYBEAN contract made gains for the first time in three days. However, it briefly hit its lowest point since April 11.

Export sales of old crop U.S. soybeans were 428,200 tonnes, up 55 per cent from the previous week and up 3.4 per cent from the same week last year. New crop sales were 50,000 tonnes to Mexico.

Old crop U.S. soymeal export sales were 323,100 tonnes, up 89 per cent from the week before and an 11-week high. Also, 5,200 tonnes of new crop soymeal were sold to Mexico and Canada. Export sales for old crop soyoil were 8,200 tonnes, down 34 per cent from the previous week and an 11-week low.

The Rosario Grain Exchange reported that Argentine soybean farmers had their biggest sales day of 2025 on April 29, selling 230,000 tonnes. The pickup in sales was driven by farmers’ financial need and greater certainty with regards to the country’s exchange rate. From April 24 to 29, Argentina sold nearly 800,000 tonnes of soybeans.

UCAB said Ukraine is projected to expand its sunflower planting area by five per cent in 2025 to 5.1 million hectares.

July contracts for the three major U.S. WHEAT varieties were relatively steady, staying close to multi-month lows.

The USDA reported 72,000 tonnes of old crop wheat export sales. Meanwhile, 238,300 tonnes of new crop were also sold.

Parts of the U.S. Southern Plains should see precipitation over the next two days. Rain showers were forecast for the Texas Panhandle to western Kansas early next week.