By Dwayne Klassen, Commodity News Service Canada Inc

Winnipeg – July 10/12 – Canola contracts on the ICE Futures Canada platform were trading at steady to slightly higher price levels at midday Tuesday. A pick up in commercial demand, believed to be covering domestic crusher needs, generated the upward action that took canola values higher, market watchers said.

Canola had initially started the session off on a weaker footing with the taking of profits by a variety of market participants fuelling some of the declines, traders said. Losses overnight in the overseas oilseed markets and the sell-off seen in CBOT soybean and soyoil values had further stimulated the losses in canola, brokers said.

Additional weakness in canola had also stemmed from the mostly good growing conditions across the Canadian prairies. traders noted that while temperatures during the day have been hot, the readings during the night have been cool and in turn providing some favourable growing conditions.

Some liquidation ahead of the release of new supply/demand balance tables from the USDA Wednesday morning had also influenced some price weakness in canola.

Brokers noted that with the volumes in canola on the thin side, it did not take much in the way of buying by the crushers to push canola values up.

The pricing of routine export business to Japan also helped to provide a firm floor for canola. Some light commodity fund buy orders were also evident, helping to generate some support.

Spreading was only a minor feature of the activity in canola.

There were an estimated 3,752 canola contracts traded at 10:49 CDT. Of the contracts traded, 936 were spread related.

There were no western barley, milling wheat or durum contracts traded at 10:49 CDT.

Prices in Canadian dollars per metric ton at 10:49 CDT: