ICE Canada Review: Canola Eases As Other Oilseeds Fall

Canola contracts moved lower early in the session undermined by the losses seen in Malaysian palm oil and European rapeseed futures overnight. The weakness exhibited by CBOT soybean and soyoil futures also added to the bearish sentiment in canola, brokers said.

A drop off in fresh export demand helped to encourage some of the selling seen in canola with the firm Canadian dollar also an undermining price influence. The Canadian currency flirted with parity with the US greenback much of the session Wednesday.

Steady hedge selling by elevator companies, given the pricing of old crop canola supplies, especially by producers in Alberta, also contributed to the price weakness seen in the commodity, brokers said.

End of year profit-taking by a variety of market participants also weighed on canola futures.

Some underlying support in canola, however, came from solid demand from domestic crushers located in western Canada, traders said. The pricing of old export business and the ongoing dryness concerns in the soybean growing areas of Argentina also helped to keep a firm floor under canola futures.

Spreading was once again a big part of the volume total experienced by canola.

There were an estimated 11,752 canola contracts traded Wednesday, down from the 19,445 contracts that changed hands during the previous session. Of the contracts traded Wednesday, 8,484 were spread related.

Western barley futures were unchanged and untraded Wednesday. On Tuesday, no western barley contracts changed hands.