ICE Canola Higher, Following Outside Oilseed Markets

Underlying support was found from ideas that canola demand – especially from domestic crushers – will remain strong into 2011. That should provide a solid base for values in the New Year, market watchers said.

The Canadian dollar had given back some of its gains from Tuesday, which further supported the market’s bullish tone.

Advances were tempered by profit taking, as traders were exiting positions ahead of the holidays, in what many experts say is an overbought market.

Early calls for CBOT soybeans were lower, after the US announced lower than expected weekly export sales, restricting any upward momentum made by canola, analysts said.

Malaysian palm oil ticked lower in overnight trade, also limiting gains.

At 08:30 CST, there had been about 2,300 canola contracts traded.

Western barley futures were unchanged and untraded early Thursday. In its latest supply/demand numbers, AgCanada pegged barley carryout at a critically tight 1 million tonnes, down 100,000 tonnes from its October estimate and much lower than 2.8 million a year earlier.

Prices in Canadian dollars per metric ton at 08:30 CST: