ICE Canola Futures Steady To Higher In Quiet Trade

Gains overnight in e-CBOT soybean futures were supportive as were the higher calls for CBOT soybean futures with the start of the day session, brokers said. Malaysian palm oil and European rapeseed futures also moved slightly higher in overnight activity.

The prospect of a smaller than expected 2010 Canadian canola crop mandates the need to maintain a risk premium in prices and helped to encourage some buying in the commodity, analysts said.

Steady domestic crusher demand and the pricing of old export business will help to keep a firm floor under values, traders said.

Bearish technical signals were seen restricting any further price gains in canola, brokers said. Sentiment that canola has moved to overbought price levels also was seen holding the commodity from advancing further.

An upswing in the value of the Canadian dollar early Tuesday was viewed as an undermining price influence. Steady hedge selling by elevator companies was also expected to temper the upside price potential.

In terms of weather, the outlooks called for a good chance of rain across most areas of the Canadian prairies today and Wednesday, brokers said.

The canola growing region of northern Alberta was the area the most in need of precipitation.

In other news, an oil spill from a vessel moving grain along the St. Lawrence Seaway has halted movement of the seaway. The closure of the seaway system was expected to be for several days. Four vessels were expected to arrive at the mouth of the St. Lawrence to transit the system Tuesday.

As of 9:24 am EDT, there were 369 canola contracts traded.

As of 9:24 am EDT, no western barley contracts had been traded.