ICE Canada Canola Weakens On Rains, Outside Markets

At least 60% of the particularly dry areas in western Canada received some beneficial rainfall over the weekend, said a Winnipeg-based broker. He thought he precipitation was behind some of the weakness in the market, but added that "there are still a lot of question marks for canola." He said the rain may have been too late to save some crops.

Losses in the CBOT soy complex also weighed on canola, according to the broker, noting that soybean oil and soybean meal were both down sharply. Declines in crude oil and the outside equity markets were also seen as bearish price influences.

In addition, grower selling was thought to be picking up in western Canada.

Weakness in the Canadian dollar helped limit the losses in canola, said the broker. Scale-down end user pricing was also thought to be providing some support.

About 5,600 canola contracts had traded by 10:52 CDT, with inter-month spreading a feature as participants roll out of the nearby July contract.

Western barley futures were steady to lower at midsession with 23 contracts traded.

Monday marks the first day of trading for the revised barley futures, which begin with the November 2009 contract. However, the revised contracts were untraded Monday morning, as participants seemed reluctant to make the first move, according to the broker.

Prices in Canadian dollars per metric ton at 10:52 CDT: