ICE Canola Holds Small Gains On Good Domestic Demand

Crush margins for domestic processors in western Canada remain extremely profitable and because of that these companies were trying to purchase as much canola as possible before producers begin concentrating on spring seeding operations, brokers said.

Contributing to the advances in canola were the gains seen in CBOT soybean values with the start of the North American trading day. Firm Matif rapeseed values overnight contributed to the upside seen in canola with weakness in the Canadian dollar also offering some additional support, brokers said.

Farmer deliveries were on the light side which helped to underpin canola. Routine exporter pricing was evident and also generated some minor support.

Talk of fresh export demand also influenced some minor buying, but exporters were unable to confirm any fresh sales.

The advances in canola were being kept in check by steady commercial liquidation orders, traders said. Overhead technical resistance was also a factor preventing canola from pushing significantly higher.

A downturn in CBOT soyoil values were also viewed as an undermining price influence for canola, brokers said.

There were an estimated 7,545 canola contracts traded at 11:02 CDT. Of that total, an estimated 5,660 contracts were spread related.

At 11:02 CDT, 26 western barley futures had changed hands, with 26 contracts of that amount spread related.

Prices in Canadian dollars per metric ton at 11:02 am CDT: