By Dwayne Klassen, Commodity News Service Canada

Winnipeg – September 6/12 – Canola futures on the ICE Canada trading platform finished Thursday’s session mainly on the defensive. It did not take much in the way of buying or selling to move canola values in either direction during the day in the thin volumes, market watchers said.

Profit-taking, especially after Wednesday’s run up in prices, helped to influence the downward price slide experienced Thursday, brokers said. Weakness in CBOT soyoil futures contributed to the price weakness in canola as did the losses seen overnight in Malaysian palm oil.

A pick up in cash sales of canola by farmers added to the bearish sentiment in the commodity as did the general firmness of the Canadian dollar. A drop off in the level of export pricing by commercials further weighed on canola, traders said.

Some light liquidation of positions ahead of Friday’s grain stocks in all positions report from Statistics Canada was evident and helped to undermine values.

The losses in canola were kept in check throughout the day by good levels of domestic crusher demand. Continued reports that canola yields in western Canada are falling short of expectations as the harvest progresses, also tempered the price weakness. Traders were indicating that the Statistics Canada’s 2012/13 (Aug/Jul) crop production estimate of 15.4 million will unlikely hit that target. Some were projecting that Canadian 2012/13 canola output was more in the 14.5 million tonne range given the poor yield prospects.

The selling in canola was also restricted by the late day upturn in some CBOT soybean contracts.

There were an estimated 11,285 canola contracts traded Thursday, down from the 18,068 contracts that changed hands during the previous session.

There were 10 durum contracts traded at higher levels with commercials the main participants, brokers said.

Mmilling wheat and barley contracts were untraded and unchanged.

Prices are in Canadian dollars per metric ton.