By Dwayne Klassen, Commodity News Service Canada Inc

Winnipeg – July 12/12 – Canola contracts on the ICE Futures Canada platform were trading at mainly lower price levels at midday Thursday. A pick up in farmer deliveries of canola into the cash pipeline helped to spur some of the downward price action with the taking of profits also an undermining price influence, market watchers said.

The increase in canola movement was associated with farmers wanting to take advantage of the firmness in the cash market before any further downturn in futures causes elevators in western Canada to adjust their cash bids down, brokers said.

Declines in CBOT soyoil futures and weakness in European rapeseed futures contributed to the price weakness displayed by canola, traders said.

A drop off in domestic processor demand for canola helped to weigh on values as did the arrival of precipitation in some of the drier areas of western Canada, traders said.

“There are some worries about heat stress on canola crops in isolated regions of the Canadian prairies, but overall the crop is believed to be looking extremely good,” a trader said, noting that this was helping to add to the bearish sentiment in the commodity.

The declines in canola were being restricted by the pricing of routine export business by commercials. Speculative buying was also evident at the lows of the day, traders said.

The downswing in the value of the Canadian dollar was also viewed as an underpinning price influence for canola.

There were an estimated 9,336 canola contracts traded at 11:03 CDT.

There were no milling wheat or durum contracts traded at 101-3 CDT. Light commercial liquidation accounted for the softer tone seen in the October barley future. At 11:03 CDT, 25 barley contracts had traded.

Prices in Canadian dollars per metric ton at 11:03 CDT: