ICE Canola Futures Jump On Low Acreage Estimate
| 3 min read
| By Dwayne Klassen, Resource News International |
| April 24, 2009 |
| Winnipeg – Canola contracts on the ICE Futures Canada platform were trading at higher price levels as of 9:47 EDT. An unexpected low canola acreage estimate from Statistics Canada early Friday helped to spark some of the buying that took those futures up, market watchers said.
Statistics Canada in its plantings survey for the period ended March 31, 2009 revealed that producers in Canada were planning on seeding 14.990 million acres to canola. This was below pre-report expectations which ranged from 15.750 million to 17.000 million acres. In 2008, 16.159 million acres were seeded to canola in Canada. Some market participants were discounting the report to a certain degree, noting that the survey’s data was already a month old and that actual acreage could still be higher. Some of the upward momentum in canola came from the move to new 8 month highs in Malaysian palm oil futures overnight, brokers said. Gains in crude oil and firmness in the North American equity sectors were contributing to the strength seen in canola. Adding to the support in canola was steady domestic processor demand in view of continued profitable crush margins and speculation about fresh export business being put on the books. The upside in canola was being limited by the losses seen in e-CBOT futures overnight and declines posted in EU rapeseed futures overnight. Slightly lower calls for CBOT soybean and soyoil futures with the start of the North American trading day helped to temper some of the upward price momentum, traders said. The firmness in canola was also limited by mixed signals coming from the Chinese Government, brokers said. The Chinese Government overnight cautioned domestic importers about bringing in to much offshore soybeans and/or canola. Expectations that producers in western Canada will be aggressive sellers of canola into the cash pipeline not that cash bids have again hit C$10 a bushel in some locations, also tempered some of the advances in canola. Firmness in the Canadian dollar early on Friday was also seen as an undermining price influence. As of 9:47 am EDT, there were 1,765 contracts traded. At 9:47 am EDT, no western barley contracts had traded with prices unchanged. Prices in Canadian dollars per metric ton at 9:47 am EDT: Price Change W. Barley Jul $146.90 unch |
