ICE canola futures mixed in consolidative overnight trade

Dwayne Klassen, Resource News International

Winnipeg, April 1 — Canola contracts on the ICE Futures Canada platform were trading in a narrowly mixed range as of 9:58 EDT. Some light support in canola was linked to the gains posted in the overnight oilseed markets while the absence of demand and profit-taking put some contracts on the defensive, market watchers said.

Advances overnight were posted in e-CBOT soybeans, Malaysian palm oil and Matif rapeseed futures. The higher calls for CBOT soybean futures with the start of the North American day session also helped to generate some minor support in canola, brokers said.

The relatively slow pace of farmer deliveries of canola into the country elevator system was seen as supportive as was steady domestic crusher demand. The pricing of routine export business was also seen keeping a firm floor under canola, traders said.

The upside in canola, however, remains limited amid the absence of fresh export demand. Some confusion coming out of Argentina regarding the actual size of the soybean crop there was also limiting the upside in canola, brokers said. The Argentine government on Monday indicated that its crop estimates were not valid and that the report was preliminary and contained errors.

The six to seven million acres of crop land not reported in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s prospective plantings report Tuesday were also injecting some uncertainty into the market place, traders said. There were concerns about whether that land will stay out of production during 2009 or will those acres show up in future updates.

The upside in canola will also be tempered by the weak price tone that is evident in CBOT soyoil values, brokers said. Losses in global crude oil overnight and the mixed tone in the North American equity markets also were not endorsing upward momentum in canola.

As of 9:58 am EDT, there were 4,612 canola contracts traded.

At 9:58 am EDT, no western barley contracts had traded with prices unchanged.

Prices in Canadian dollars per metric ton at 9:49 am EDT:

          Price    Change
Canola
     May     422.40 Up 2.00
     Jul     424.00 Dn 0.80
     Nov     431.10 Unchanged
 
Western Barley
     May     142.20 Unchanged
     Jul     149.00    unchanged