By Terryn Shiells, Commodity News Service Canada
December 6, 2013
WINNIPEG – ICE Futures Canada Canola contracts moved sharply lower on Friday, hitting fresh contract lows on the way down, analysts said.
The market also broke below the key support level of C$480 per tonne in the January contract, which sparked chart- based selling.
The surprisingly large 18.0 million tonne canola crop, as pegged by Statistics Canada on Wednesday, continued to be bearish, as did expectations of larger carryout stocks.
Sell-stops were hit on the way down and helped to amplify the declines.
However, the weaker Canadian dollar and resulting positive crush margins helped to limit the losses, brokers noted.
About 31,305 canola contracts were traded on Friday, which compares with Thursday when 40,298 contracts changed hands. Spreading accounted for 22,134 of the trades.
Milling wheat, durum and barley prices were untraded and unchanged.
Settlement prices are in Canadian dollars per metric ton.
