ICE Canola Futures Fluctuate, Weather vs Strong Cdn Dlr

The majority of buyers in the market came from the speculative sector, brokers said. The covering of previously sold positions, most of which was prompted by the weather uncertainty, helped to generate some of the upward price action. Light domestic crusher demand and the covering of old export business helped to provide some light underlying support. Much of the selling that surfaced in canola came from the commercial sector, brokers said.

Adding to the price weakness in canola was increased producer offerings from Alberta. Producers in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, however, were still reluctant sellers, market watchers said.

Analysts said the canola market was similar to Wednesday’s, as it surged high early and dropped due to traders selling out.

Market participants were predicting that approximately 35% of Saskatchewan’s canola crop has been lost, and an estimated 2 million metric tons of canola production will be lost due to the wet weather conditions. The over-all yield potentials of the surviving canola crop was also believed to be down.

There were an estimated 15,230 canola contracts traded at 10:30 am CDT. There was no western barley futures traded as of 10:30 am CDT.

Western barley futures were untraded and unchanged.

Prices in Canadian dollars per metric ton at 10:30 CDT: