By Dwayne Klassen, Commodity News Service Canada
January 9, 2013
WINNIPEG – Canola futures on the ICE Canada trading platform finished mostly on the defensive Wednesday with losses linked in part to a pick up in farmer movement in the cash market, industry watchers said. Much of that increase was tied to the premiums being offered to farmers by grain companies.
Activity in canola was described as cautious in nature with participants unwilling to establish large positions on either side of the market ahead of Friday’s supply/demand report from the USDA.
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Some of the price weakness in canola also came from sentiment that values were overpriced and in need of a correction to the downside. Light speculative and commodity fund liquidation was evident with some of that tied to the charts.
A small drop off in exporter interest helped to fuel some of the downward price action seen in canola.
The downside in canola was restricted by the advances seen in CBOT soyoil futures. Gains overnight in Malaysian palm oil and European rapeseed had also slowed some of the price declines.
General weakness in the Canadian dollar and steady domestic processor demand also helped to keep canola off its lows of the day, brokers said.
There were an estimated 12,103 canola contracts traded Wednesday, down from the 14,861 contracts that changed hands during the previous session. Of the contracts that changed hands, 5,304 were spread related.
No milling wheat, durum contracts were traded. No barley contract were traded but values were lowered by ICE Canada at the close.
Prices are in Canadian dollars per metric ton.
