ICE Canola Down On Follow through, CBOT Declines

Losses in Malaysian palm oil futures overnight combined with the absence of fresh export demand for Canadian canola also helped to weigh on prices.

Some of the downward price movement in canola also reflected the ample oilseed supply situation on the world market, traders said. Ideas that North American crop conditions are generally improving also helped to fuel some early selling in canola.

Sentiment that canola is too highly priced to attract fresh demand also sparked some light selling.

However, the weakness in canola was limited by ongoing concern about the condition of the canola crops in western Canada, brokers said. Dryness issues early in the growing season have cast doubt on the yield potential for crops in Alberta and Saskatchewan while overly wet conditions in Manitoba have also reduced yield potential, they said.

Cool overnight temperatures also continue to slow crop development and were expected to cause canola to be more vulnerable to an early frost in the Fall.

The losses in canola were also slowed by the pull-back in the value of the Canadian dollar early on Thursday. However, because the currency has shown considerable strength over the past week the dollar weakness was not seen as a major factor, traders said.

There were an estimated 1,834 canola contracts traded at 10:51 CDT.

There were 104 western barley futures traded as of 10:51 CDT. Weakness in CBOT corn futures, the absence of demand, and the lack of willing buyers allowed barley futures to ease downwards, brokers said.

Prices in Canadian dollars per metric ton at 10:51 am CDT: