By Phil Franz-Warkentin, Commodity News Service Canada
Dec. 24, 2013
Winnipeg – ICE Futures Canada canola contracts saw a continuation of their recent downtrend on Tuesday, setting fresh lows in thin pre-holiday trade.
Canadian markets closed early today and will remain closed Wednesday and Thursday for Christmas and Boxing Day. Positioning ahead of the holiday was behind some of the activity, with the losses exaggerated by the thin holiday volumes.
Canada’s record large crop, bearish technical signals, and a softer tone in CBOT soyoil all accounted for some of the weakness in canola, according to participants. Speculators were said to be the heaviest sellers, as most farmers have moved to the sidelines for the time being.
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On the other side, canola is looking very cheap compared to other oilseeds. Oversold price sentiment and scale-down end user demand did provide some support. Gains in CBOT soybeans helped temper the declines in canola as well, said traders.
About 15,502 canola contracts were traded on Tuesday, which compares with Monday when 30,023 contracts changed hands. Spreading accounted for 10,186 of the contracts traded.
Milling wheat, durum and barley futures were untraded, after the grains saw some price adjustments following Monday’s close.
Settlement prices are in Canadian dollars per metric ton.
