ICE Canada Review: Export Pricing Bolsters Canola

The export pricing was tied to talk that china has been seeking out additional quantities of Canadian canola that will be destined for regions within China designated as blackleg disease areas, traders said.

Additional support in canola came from the advances seen overnight in Malaysian palm oil futures with the gains in CBOT soybeans and soyoil also generating some of the upward price momentum, traders said.

Light chart based speculative demand contributed to the strength in canola.

Position evening ahead of the release of new supply/demand balance tables from the USDA this week was also a feature of the activity.

Traders noted that it did not take much in the way of buying to move the values higher in the thin volumes seen during the session.

The upside in canola was limited by the record South American soybean crop that is currently being harvested and by talk of higher than anticipated canola acreage this spring in western Canada, brokers said.

Elevator company hedge selling also helped to restrict the price gains in canola.

Firmness in the Canadian dollar also was an undermining price influence against canola, traders said.

There were an estimated 4,354 canola contracts traded Monday, down from 9,197 during the previous session. Of the contracts traded, 1,292 contracts were spread related.

Western barley futures were steady to higher in extremely thin trade. Sentiment that barley was oversold and in need of an upward correction helped some contracts move up. The lack of willing sellers amplified the small commercial buying interest, brokers said.

There were 45 barley contracts that changed hands during the session. On Friday, 10 barley contracts were traded.