ICE Canola Futures Climb On Outside Oilseed Gains

Gains were posted in e-CBOT soybean futures, European rapeseed and Malaysian palm oil overnight.

Some of the upward price action in canola was also linked to the firmer calls for CBOT soybean and soyoil futures with the start of the North American day session, brokers said.

A small pull-back in the value of the Canadian dollar early Friday was seen as supportive for canola with slow farmer sales into the cash market in western Canada also providing some underlying support, traders said.

Technically, the nearby January contract continues to hold support in the C$410 to $412 per metric ton area.

Routine exporter demand was helping to provide a firm floor for canola, brokers said.

Canadian canola exports continue to move forward at a steady pace, but are not as large as they could be given the ongoing restrictions on exports to China, analysts said. As of December 6, Canada had exported 2.563 million tonnes of canola during the 2009/10 (Aug/Jul) marketing year, only 65,000 tonnes behind the pace of last year at this time, according to Canadian Grain Commission data.

The export line up out of the west coast is also large, with over 400,000 metric tons of canola set to move over the next month, according to the Canadian Ports Clearance Association. In addition to the routine business to Japan, the export line up for the next month also includes shipments to Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Dubai. Those destinations are occasional buyers, which were helping offset the lack of business to China.

As of 9:41 am EST, there were 1,010 canola contracts traded.

As of 9:45 am EST, no western barley contracts had been traded.