By Terryn Shiells, Commodity News Service Canada
May 24, 2013
WINNIPEG – Canola contracts on the ICE Futures Canada platform were mixed on Friday morning, amid choppy activity. Traders were said to be positioning ahead of the long weekend in the US, as those markets will be closed for Memorial Day on Monday. Canadian markets will remain open.
Canola values were also following the mixed activity seen in the Chicago soybean complex Friday morning, brokers noted.
The nearby July contract was experiencing most of the downward price action, pressured by ideas that it is overpriced compared to other oilseeds.
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Strong competition from South America, as their oilseed supplies are now flooding the market, further weighed on values, as did a slowdown in commercial demand.
The canola market was also pressured by reports that farmers in western Canada have made significant planting progress recently and news that the crop is off to a good start so far.
Deferred contracts moved higher, underpinned by the readjustment of spreads between old and new crop values, analysts said.
Concerns that more planting delays could occur in western Canada due to weather forecasts calling for rain over the weekend provided further support.
Slow farmer selling, as many producers are now focusing on field work, also fuelled some of the advances, as did the downswing in the value of the Canadian dollar.
As of 8:40 CDT, about 3,330 canola contracts had traded.
Milling wheat, barley and durum were untraded and unchanged Friday morning.
Prices in Canadian dollars per metric ton at 8:40 CDT:
