By Phil Franz-Warkentin, Commodity News Service Canada

Jan. 30, 2013

Winnipeg – ICE Futures Canada canola contracts were stronger on Wednesday, as a rally in the CBOT soy complex spilled over to provide support.

Concerns over drier weather conditions in Argentina were behind some of the strength in the soy complex, according to participants.

Bullish technical signals were also supportive for canola, as the move past nearby support in the March contract triggered some speculative buy-stops and values rose to their highest levels in over four months.

Concerns over tightening canola supplies in western Canada provided further support, although expectations for increased production in 2013 did cause the new crop months to lag to the upside, said traders.

Scale-up farmer selling and profit-taking at the highs also limited the gains to some extent, according to participants.

About 25,645 canola contracts were traded on Wednesday, which compares with Tuesday when 17,856 contracts changed hands. Spreading accounted for about 16,486 of the contracts traded.

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

Settlement prices are in Canadian dollars per metric ton.