By Dwayne Klassen, Commodity News Service Canada

Winnipeg – October 19/12 – CNS – Canola contracts on the ICE Futures Canada platform were trading at higher levels in choppy pre-weekend activity. Fresh demand from the commercial sector helped to influence the price gains seen in canola, market watchers said.

There were rumours of fresh export demand coming forward, but export sources have not been able to confirm any fresh business, brokers said. The pricing of old sales was evident, however, and helped to provide some buoyancy for the market.

Small gains in CBOT soybean futures Friday morning and gains overnight in European rapeseed values also helped to generate some support.

Some of the buying in canola was also seen as chart related, with speculators and commodity funds the most interested parties, traders said.

The tight supply outlook confirmed by the market analysis division of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada also provided some minor strength for canola. The government agency pegged 2012/13 (Aug/Jul) Canadian canola ending stocks at just 450,000 metric tons. In September canola carryover stocks had been forecast at 675,000 tons and totalled 788,000 at the end of the 2011/12 season.

Light domestic crusher demand also helped to underpin canola futures.

The upside in canola was restricted by bouts of profit-taking at the highs of the day. Weakness in CBOT soyoil and the mixed close in Malaysian palm oil overnight also tempered some of the buying interest.

As of 8:40 CDT, about 1,866 canola contracts had traded.

Milling wheat, durum and barley contracts were unchanged and untraded.

Prices in Canadian dollars per metric ton at 8:40 CDT: