By Dwayne Klassen, Commodity News Service Canada
March 28, 2013
WINNIPEG – Canola contracts on the ICE Futures Canada platform were trading at steady to mostly firmer price levels at 10:29 CDT Thursday morning with the buying back of previously sold positions ahead of the release of USDA reports behind the upward price action, market watchers said.
The evening up of positions ahead of the three-day Easter holiday weekend was also a small feature of the activity. The ICE Canada platform will be closed on March 29 in observance of Good Friday. Small commercial demand helped to generate some strength for the nearby contracts, with much of that interest said to be covering routine export business, traders said.
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Continued concerns about tight old crop canola stocks further underpinned values. The upside in canola was restricted by the declines posted overnight in Malaysian palm oil as well as in CBOT soybean and soyoil futures Thursday.
A small pick up in elevator company hedge selling, tied to grain companies offering up higher farm-gate prices in order to stimulate farmer deliveries, also capped the upside price push, brokers said.
Talk that some demand for Canadian canola will shift to Australia, as China is now allowing Australian canola imports again, further limited the gains in canola.
As of 10:29 CDT, about 8,398 canola contracts had traded. Of the contracts traded, 7,268 were spread related. Milling wheat, durum and barley contracts were unchanged and untraded.
Prices in Canadian dollars per metric ton at 10:29 CDT:
