By Phil Franz-Warkentin, Commodity News Service Canada
May 3, 2013
Winnipeg – ICE Futures Canada canola contracts closed with small gains in most months on Friday, as a rally in the CBOT soy complex spilled over to provide support.
A report from Statistics Canada confirming the tightening canola supply situation in the country helped underpin the futures as well. StatsCan pegged Canadian canola supplies, as of March 31, 2013, at 3.9 million tonnes. That was well below the previous year’s level and would represent the tightest supplies for that time of year since 2005.
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However, the tightening supplies were largely expected, and canola lagged soybeans to the upside. Speculators liquidating long positions accounted for some of the relative weakness in canola, according to traders.
Forecasts calling for warmer weather across the Canadian Prairies over the next week weighed on canola as well. The improving weather was seen alleviating some of the concerns over planting delays in western Canada.
About 15,938 canola contracts were traded on Friday, which compares with Thursday when 17,473 contracts changed hands. Inter-month spreading was only a minor a feature, accounting for about 4,972 of the contracts traded.
Milling wheat, durum and barley futures were untraded and unchanged on Thursday.
Settlement prices are in Canadian dollars per metric ton.
