ICE Canola Follows CBOT Soy Complex Higher

The firm overnight tone in vegetable oil markets contributed to the bullish sentiment backing the CBOT soy complex and, in turn, canola, traders said.

Good global vegetable demand, as evidenced by recent sharp advances in the Malaysian palm oil futures, were supportive for North American oilseed markets, they said.

Slow farmer selling in western Canada, tied partially to spring road restrictions, combined with commercial and speculative buying also lent support to canola prices.

However, the strength of the Canadian dollar against its US counterpart helped to temper canola’s advances by discouraging buying, brokers said.

For the rest of the session, traders said canola may have further upside potential if the nearby May soybean contract breaks through technical resistance and triggers further speculative buying. That could encourage spillover buying interest in canola, they said.

There were 10,827 canola contracts traded as of 11:02 CDT. Of that amount, 5,195 were tied to spreading.

Western barley futures were trading at lower levels in very light activity. Only 84 contracts had traded at 11:02 CDT, of which 76 were spread-related.

Prices in Canadian dollars per metric ton at 11:02 CDT: