ICE Canola Edges Down On Profit-Taking

A Winnipeg-based canola broker said canola was looking ‘sluggish,’ with year-end profit-taking from funds and other speculators accounting for most of the selling pressure.

He added that trade in canola was becoming increasingly choppy heading into Christmas, leading to some volatility in the market.

While CBOT soyoil was also slightly weaker, the gains in CBOT soybeans helped limit the declines in canola, according to the broker.

The weaker Canadian dollar was also keeping canola well supported, as the softer currency helps improve crush margins and makes canola more attractive to export customers.

The broker said crush margins were looking attractive, and the lower canola prices were attracting some scale-down end user demand.

At 10:37 CST, about 8,700 canola contracts had changed hands, with spreading a feature as participants were rolling out of the nearby January contract.

Western barley futures were untraded and unchanged at midsession.

Prices in Canadian dollars per metric ton at 10:37 CST: