Winnipeg canola futures rose on Friday in light volume as harvest pressure continued to wind down.
Fewer deliveries from the combine reduced elevator company hedging.
Strong demand from domestic crushers all week supported canola prices.
The Canadian Oilseed processors Association said members crushed a record 131,374 tonnes of canola in the week ending Oct. 20.
That was up six percent from the week before and represents a crush capacity use of about 90 percent, the best in more than a year.
Oilseed markets have been supported by worries that a strengthening La Nina in the Pacific will bring dry weather to South American soybean crops.
But Brazilian analysts Agroconsult forecast the 2010-11 soybean crop in that country will reach a record 69.6 million tonnes, up from 69 million last year.
Seeded area is expected to be larger than last year. Seeding progress has been slowed by dry weather, influenced by the La Nina. However, Agroconsult believes the dry pattern will end and rains will be normal in late October and November.
In Winnipeg on Friday, November canola rose $2.60 per tonne to $513.80 on 2,158 trades. On the week, the contract jumped $15.40.
The January contract on Friday rose $2.90 to $522.80 on 8,952 trades.
The previous day’s best basis narrowed to $18.33 per tonne under the November contract in the par region, according to the Winnipeg ICE Futures daily report.
The 14-day Relative Strength Index for November was 85 according to BarChart.com. The rule of thumb is an RSI of 30 indicates an over sold market and 70 indicates an over bought market.
December barley futures were unchanged at $180 per tonne. March was unchanged at $185.
Chicago new crop November soybeans fell two cents to $11.995 US per bushel. The contract gained 14.5 cents or 1.2 percent on the week.
January fell 1.5 cents on Friday to $12.115.
December corn fell 4.25 cents to $5.60 per bu.
December oats rose 1.5 cents to $3.57 per bu. March oats rose 1.5 cent to $3.685.
In New York, crude oil for November delivery rose $1.13 to $81.69 US per barrel.
The Canadian dollar at noon was 97.44 cents US, down from 97.72 cents the previous trading day. The U.S. dollar at noon was $1.0263.
The TSX composite index closed at 12,601.18, up 1.95 points. The index was almost unchanged over the week. The S&P 500 rose 2.82 points to close at 1,183.08.
For the week, the Dow and the S&P gained 0.6 percent while the Nasdaq rose 0.4 percent.
