ICE canola downturn continues Wednesday

By Phil Franz-Warkentin

Glacier FarmMedia | MarketsFarm — The ICE Futures canola market was weaker at midday Wednesday, seeing a continuation of Tuesday’s drop as losses in outside markets weighed on values. Chicago soyoil, European rapeseed and Malaysian palm oil were all lower.

A lack of end user demand contributed to the declines, with softening basis levels in countryside from both domestic crushers and line companies making export sales, said a trader. Speculative funds were also adding to their short positions as canola fell below nearby chart support levels.

Expectations that Canada’s canola production ended up well below the 19 million tonnes currently forecast by Statistics Canada provided some support. A weaker tone in the Canadian dollar also tempered the declines.

An estimated 36,500 canola contracts traded as of 10:56 CST.

Prices in Canadian dollars per metric tonne at 10:56 CST:

Canola            Jan   620.30    dn  9.50

Mar   634.10    dn  8.60

May   643.60    dn  9.60

Jul   647.00    dn 11.00