ICE Canola Contracts Down On Firm C$, CBOT Drop
| 2 min read
| By Dwayne Klassen, Resource News International |
| May 28, 2010 |
| Winnipeg – Canola contracts on the ICE Futures Canada platform were trading at mainly lower price levels at midday with declines associated with the generally firm Canadian dollar and the weakness displayed by CBOT soybean and soyoil values, market watchers said.
Spreading was a key feature of the activity with market participants moving out of July positions and into the November contract, brokers said. Position evening ahead of the US Long Holiday weekend was also a feature of the activity. US markets will be closed on Monday in observance of Memorial Day. The Canadian dollar was significantly stronger in early activity which helped to spark some selling, traders said. The strong dollar also caused domestic crushers and exporters to temporarily back away from the market. However, the Canadian unit has since eased from its early strength, allowing some light demand to come forward to underpin values, brokers said. The arrival of precipitation across western Canada was said to be good for crops already planted, but was seen slowing seeding operations in Saskatchewan where planting progress was the furthest behind. The price impact on canola was noticeably mixed, brokers said. Farmers in Saskatchewan had 55% of the various crops in the ground as of May 24, which compares with 28% the previous week, but still well below the 81% complete five-year average, Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food said in a report Thursday. The large world oilseed supply situation was an undermining influence on canola with the lack of fresh exporter demand adding to the bearish price atmosphere, traders said. The slow pace of farmer deliveries to the cash pipeline in western Canada was an underpinning price influence. There were an estimated 3,774 canola contracts traded at 10:34 CDT. Of the contracts traded, 2,758 were spread related. There were no western barley futures traded as of 10:34 CDT. |
