By Dwayne Klassen, Commodity News Service Canada

Winnipeg – Canola contracts on the ICE Futures Canada platform were trading at higher price levels at 09:37 EDT

Thursday morning. The new record highs established in overnight activity in the CBOT soybean complex sparked much of the buying that took canola futures up, market watchers said.

The advances in canola were augmented by the strength displayed by Malaysian palm oil and European rapeseed futures.

Ongoing weather issues in the main soybean growing regions of the US soybean belt also are stimulating the price gains in canola, traders said. The rain that was forecast to hit the southern US soybean growing regions missed the mark overnight. Soybeans are in the critical pod filling stage and precipitation would be beneficial to maintaining yield potential, they said.

Light commercial demand helped to fuel the advances in canola as did light commodity fund and speculative buying.

The upside in canola was being limited by steady farmer deliveries of canola into the cash pipeline as producers start to make room for new crop supplies, traders said.

Good weather on the Canadian prairies for the development of the canola crop also restricted some of the strength in the commodity,

Firmness in the Canadian dollar early Thursday also limited the upward price potential in canola.

As of 9:37 EDT, there were 4,251 canola contracts traded.

As of 9:37 EDT, there were no milling wheat, durum or barley contracts traded.

Prices in Canadian dollars per metric ton at 9:37 EDT: