ICE Canola Futures Higher As C$ Weakens

Light followthrough buying from the firmer close Wednesday helped to generate some early support.

The absence of significant farmer deliveries was supportive for values as was light exporter pricing of previous conducted business, brokers said.

Activity in canola was expected to be choppy and on the lighter side given that the CBOT grain and soybean markets are closed for the US Thanksgiving Holiday. Activity on Friday was also expected to be on the light side with most of the major US market participants extending the Thanksgiving holiday through the weekend.

Malaysian palm oil and European rapeseed futures were little changed overnight.

The upside in canola was being limited by the continued uncertainty surrounding Canada’s ability to export canola to China given the implementation of blackleg plant disease restrictions there, brokers said.

News that locomotive engineers have issued a strike notice (Nov 28) to Canadian National Railway also has created uncertainty about Canada’s ability to remain a reliable supplier of canola onto the world market, traders said.

The Teamsters Canada Rail Conference, or TCRC, which represents the 1,700 locomotive engineers will meet with CN Rail on Friday in order to see if there is anyway to avoid an escalation in the labour dispute.

Weakness in crude oil futures early Thursday were also viewed as an undermining price influence.

As of 9:25 am EST, there were 1,571 canola contracts traded.

As of 9:25 am EST, no western barley contracts had been traded.

The Canadian Wheat Board will also release its November Pool Return Outlooks for wheat, durum and barley after the close of trade Thursday. Market participants were expecting a steady or slightly weaker trend in the price forecasts.