By Phil Franz-Warkentin, Commodity News Service Canada
September 20, 2013
Winnipeg – ICE Futures Canada canola contracts were sharply lower on Friday, as spillover from the losses in CBOT soybeans, bearish chart signals, and ongoing harvest pressure all combined to pull prices down to their lowest levels in over a month.
Western Canadian farmers continue to make good progress bringing in this year’s record large canola crop, and the increased availability of new crop supplies provided little incentive for prices to go higher without any spillover support from CBOT soybeans, said traders.
Bearish technical signals contributed to the declines, with some speculative sell-stops hit as canola moved below nearby support.
However, scale-down exporter and domestic crusher demand underneath the market did provide some support, as canola remains attractively priced at current levels. A softer tone in the Canadian dollar also helped keep the losses in check.
About 26,681 canola contracts were traded on Friday, which compares with Thursday when 30,845 contracts changed hands.
Milling wheat, durum and barley futures were untraded and unchanged.
Settlement prices are in Canadian dollars per metric ton.
