By Phil Franz-Warkentin, Commodity News Service Canada
September 6, 2013
Winnipeg – Canola contracts on the ICE Futures Canada platform were lower at 10:38 CDT Friday, as the strong Canadian dollar and mounting harvest pressure weighed on values.
The Canadian dollar was up by over a cent relative to its US counterpart on the back of better-than-expected employment data. The firmer currency cuts into crush margins and also makes exports less attractive to international customers.
Harvest pressure across the Canadian Prairies contributed to the softer tone in canola, with no major weather threats in the immediate forecasts, said traders.
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However, gains in CBOT soyoil did provide some spillover support for the canola market. The need to keep some risk premiums in the futures, as the harvest is still far from complete, also helped temper the declines.
Statistics Canada released its ending stocks estimates for the 2012/13 crop year Friday morning. Canola stocks, as of July 31, 2013, came in at 608,000 tonnes, which was lower than the 707,000 tonnes seen at the same time the previous year and well below the five-year average. However, the tight number was in line with trade guesses and expectations that a record large crop this year will make up for the tight carryout limited the impact of the report on the futures.
About 13,000 canola contracts had traded as of 10:38 CDT.
Milling wheat, durum, and barley futures were untraded and changed on Friday after the grains saw some price revisions following Thursday’s close.
Prices in Canadian dollars per metric ton at 10:38 CDT:
