By Phil Franz-Warkentin, Commodity News Service Canada
Jan. 4, 2013
Winnipeg – ICE Futures Canada canola contracts closed lower on Friday, as bearish technical signals and losses in the CBOT soy complex weighed on prices.
Chart-based selling was behind most of the weakness in canola on Friday, according to participants. Positioning in the US markets ahead of the January 11 USDA supply/demand report accounted for some of the speculative selling that spilled into canola. The relatively favourable crop conditions for soybeans in South America were also said to be weighing on the oilseeds in general.
The firmer Canadian dollar and declining crush margins added to the softer tone in canola, although domestic processors were still showing good demand on a scale-down basis, according to a trader.
The ongoing concerns over tightening supplies and a lack of significant farmer selling also remained supportive.
About 16,447 canola contracts were traded on Friday, which compares with Thursday when 12,991 contracts changed hands. Spreading accounted for about 10,692 of the contracts traded.
Milling wheat, durum, and barley futures were untraded and unchanged.
