ICE Canola Climbs Higher Amid Solid Demand, Harvest Delays

A trader said canola was still relatively cheap, especially as production will be down on the year. He said users were making purchases now in the likelihood that values will need to move higher later in the year in order to ration demand.

While there is currently no weather related threat to the canola crop, the harvest has been delayed in many areas of western Canada and traders were starting to express some concern about the possibility of an early frost.

Speculative buying added to the firmer tone in canola, with some spillover buying interest from the gains in the CBOT soy complex helping underpin the market, according to traders.

Farmer and commercial hedges limited the advances in canola, according to traders. However, that selling was largely on a scale-up basis, according to a broker who noted that producers made big sales earlier this week and were now moving to the sidelines.

At 10:50 CDT, about 7,100 canola contracts had changed hands, with spreading only a small feature.

Western barley futures were untraded and unchanged at midsession.

Prices in Canadian dollars per metric ton at 10:50 CDT: