A falling Canadian dollar helped hold up canola for most of Tuesday in defiance of weak overnight Malaysian palm oil and European rapeseed prices and allowed canola to seem stronger than U.S. soybeans, which suffered early session weakness due to falling soy oil prices.
July canola futures at the ICE Canada Futures exchange closed at $387.10, up 10 cents. November canola was unchanged at $389.90.
Wet weather across much of Western Canada delayed seeding but improved soil moisture conditions in many areas.
Canola trading began lower but weakness in crude oil prices and a falling Canadian dollar encouraged crushers to buy canola and made Canadian dollar denominated prices seem cheaper in U.S. dollar terms.
Traders said the strength of the dollar and the weakness of oil were partially due to the debt crisis in Greece and anxiety over the bailout package for the troubled nation.
Investors ran to the U.S. dollar and away from the Euro because of the Eurozone’s troubles and away from commodity currencies like Canada’s.
The Canadian dollar and the price of oil are closely correlated. Canola trade was light, at 5,377 total volume
Chicago Board of Trade soybeans ended up 0.5 cents per bushel at $9.87 for July, but new crop prices fell.
Chicago soy oil was down one-third of a cent per pound to 38.68 cents, but soymeal was up $2.80 per tonne to $287.80 per tonne.
