ICE Canola Firm In A Choppy Trade

Canola had a moderate volume of trade with intermonth spreading still accounting for much of the volume as commodity funds and commercials dominated the spread trade.

The total canola volume was estimated at 12,057 contracts, down from 14,569 contracts on Friday, including an estimated 8,149 contracts involved in the spread trade.

Canola was a bit higher in the overnight session reflecting a firm tone in international vegetable oil markets.
Canola turned mixed as the North American trading session opened and Chicago Board of Trade soy complex futures unexpectedly opened mostly lower. Canola ended modestly higher.

Canola was pressured down the large canola supply sitting on farms and hanging over the market.
Sluggish fresh demand and weakness in CBOT soy complex futures contributed to the early declines. However losses were very small and activity choppy with prices turning to small gains in the last half hour of the session as a large canola export program for April gave support as did a weaker Canadian dollar. A slower pace to farmer selling also contributed to the gains. New crop canola drew added support from the uncertainty surrounding 2009 canola plantings.

Analysts also noted that a large sell order of 1,000 July contracts at the close on Friday was making traders cautious Monday.

Exporters and crushers were steady buyers while commercials supplied the bulk of the selling.
Elevator company offerings were described as steady but not aggressive by cash dealers.

Western barley ended lower in light trade as intermonth spreading augmented the trading volume in a mainly commercial trade. The large barley supply and the absence of significant end user demand allowed the market to decline, brokers said.

The total barley volume was estimated at 294 contracts, up from 180 contracts on Friday, including an estimated 174 contracts involved in the spread trade.

Prices are in Canadian dollars per metric ton: