ICE Canola Holds Firm, Strong C$ Tempers Gains

Canola values managed to find support from the gains seen in e-CBOT soybeans, Matif rapeseed and Malaysian palm oil futures overnight. Strength in CBOT soybean and soyoil values were helping to keep a firm price floor under canola, brokers said.

Some of the commercial interest was said to be covering domestic crusher needs and some routine export demand, even though Japan, one of Canada’s main canola customers, was still celebrating its ‘Golden week’ holidays.

Some minor buying in canola early in the session was also linked to the grain stocks in all positions report released by Statistics Canada Friday morning.

The government agency pegged canola supplies on farm and in commercial positions as of March 31, 2009 at 5.852 million metric tons. Pre-report expectations for canola had ranged between
5.800 to 6.300 million tons. Stocks of canola at the same time a year ago were 4.577 million tons.

Although the number was a record high, the trade said the number is friendly as it was on the low end of pre-report estimates and confirmed a strong export pace as well as steady domestic demand, traders said.

Support in canola was also being derived from the absence of farmer deliveries into the cash market, with most producers now concentrating on spring fieldwork and seeding operations, brokers said.

The upside in canola was being limited by the strong Canadian dollar. In early activity, the Canadian dollar had already gained over 1 US cent to sit above 86 US cents.

There were an estimated 7,828 canola contracts traded at 11:00 CDT.

At 11:00 CDT, 29 western barley futures had changed hands.

Some of the downward price action in barley came on the heels of light commercial offerings, brokers said. Some of that interest may have been spurred on by the higher than anticipated supply of feed barley in western Canada as reflected by the Statistics Canada grain stocks report released early Friday. Barley supplies on farm and in commercial positions were pegged as of March 31, 2009 at 6.054 million tons. Pre-report ideas has called for barley stocks to ranger from 4.500 million to 5.300 million tons.

Prices in Canadian dollars per metric ton at 11:00 am CDT: