US soybeans suffered slight losses on Tuesday. The January contract closed down 3.25 US cents at 1,046.25 US cents/bushel. The March futures fell by 1.25 US cents to 1,062.25 US cents/bushel, while meal lost 2.10 US dollars to 296.70 US dollars/short ton.
Although the USDA reported exports of 136,000 tons of US beans to China and 231,000 tons to unknown destinations in the morning, the news largely fizzled out on the market. The weaker Brazilian export outlook, which according to ANEC stands at 3.02 million tons in December volume and corresponds to a decline of 550,000 tons year-on-year, also provided little impetus.
The focus is now on the weekly USDA report on export sales today, Wednesday. Trading will be paused on Thursday for New Year's Day and will restart on Friday at 8:30 am CST.
The canola market in Winnipeg, on the other hand, was up. By mid-day, futures were up, although the exact reasons remain unclear, according to a local trader. He suspects speculative buying to be the driving force and emphasizes that funds currently have a strong influence on events. January gained 5.00 can-$ to 594.60 can-$/t. Rapeseed for February gained €0.25 on Euronext to €452.50/t.
