ICE canola breaks sharply lower

By Phil Franz-Warkentin

Glacier FarmMedia MarketsFarm – The ICE Futures canola market was sharply lower at midday Friday, falling below major chart support as some stops were likely triggered on the way down.

The November contract broke below its former support at around C$560 per tonne and took out the next psychological level at C$550 along the way. Losses in Chicago soyoil, European rapeseed and Malaysian palm oil contributed to the weakness in canola, although the Canadian oilseed outpaced those markets to the downside.

Farmers continue to make good harvest progress across most of Western Canada, although many market participants expect actual production may end up below the 19.5 million tonnes forecast by Statistics Canada in August. The agency releases its next model-based estimates on Monday, Sept. 16.

An estimated 44,300 canola contracts traded as of 11:05 CDT.

Prices in Canadian dollars per metric tonne at 11:05 CDT:

Canola            Nov   545.00    dn  16.50

Jan   560.00    dn  14.80

Mar   573.20    dn  13.60

May   583.60    dn  12.60