By Dwayne Klassen, Commodity News Service Canada
February 4, 2013
WINNIPEG – Canola contracts on the ICE Futures Canada platform were trading at higher price levels at 10:50 CST Monday morning with concerns about tight supplies and steady demand generating the price strength, market watchers said.
Chart-based speculative and commodity fund buying was also evident and helped to encourage the upward price action.
The buying back of short positions ahead of Tuesday’s Statistics Canada grain stocks in all positions report was also a feature of the activity and helped to bolster values, brokers said.
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Much of the demand in canola continued to come from domestic crushers as well as exporters. Strong premiums were reportedly being paid by grain companies and domestic processors across western Canada for canola.
A small pull-back in the value of the Canadian dollar early Monday also influenced some of the upward price momentum seen in canola.
Continued uncertainty surrounding soybean production in South America also provided canola with a firm price floor, traders said.
The upside in canola was being restricted by the taking of profits and by the move off the highs in the CBOT soybean complex. Farmer selling of canola was also brisk, which further limited the upside price potential.
Spreading was a feature of the activity in canola and accounted for a portion of the volume total.
As of 10:50 CST, about 9,356 canola contracts had traded. Of those contracts, spreading accounted for 8,474 of the trades.
Milling wheat, durum and barley contracts were unchanged and untraded.
Prices in Canadian dollars per metric ton at 10:50 CST:
