By Phil Franz-Warkentin, Commodity News Service Canada
WINNIPEG, March 8 (CNS Canada) – Canola contracts on the ICE Futures Canada platform were down at midday Tuesday, as a lack of end user buying interest weighed on the lightly traded market.
Ongoing uncertainty over tightening dockage allowances in China were said to be keeping some exporters on the sidelines, as any sales booked now are unlikely to make their way to China until after the April 1st start-date for the new standards.
“It’s a dark cloud overhanging the market,” said a canola broker.
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Generally bearish technical signals were also said to be keeping speculators on the sell side, especially after canola already saw a modest corrective bounce on Monday.
However, sharp weakness in the Canadian dollar relative to its US counterpart did provide some underlying support, with crush margins improving on the day.
Advances in CBOT soybeans were also somewhat supportive, according to participants.
The USDA releases its latest monthly supply/demand report on Wednesday, and positioning ahead of the data was a feature on both sides of the border.
About 6,500 canola contracts had traded as of 10:48 CST.
Milling wheat, durum, and barley futures were all untraded.
