ICE Canola Lower On Follow-Through Selling, Soy Weakness

Calls for a lower start for the CBOT soy complex, along with overnight declines in Malaysian palm oil and European rapeseed futures, added to the losses in canola.

Improving weather conditions for harvest operations across western Canada were also cited as a bearish price influence. However, traders noted that there were still some areas of concern for the canola crop.

A firmer tone in the Canadian dollar also weighed on canola values, cutting into crush margins and making the commodity less attractive to export customers.

Statistics Canada releases its first official production estimates of the year on August 20, and opinions on the size of the canola crop ahead of the report are highly varied. Positioning ahead of the data could lend a cautious tone to the canola trade, traders added.

From a technical standpoint, an analyst said the upward bias in canola was still intact, but recent activity was starting to suggest that a top may be in place for the time being.

About 1,340 canola contracts had traded as of 8:22 CDT.

Western barley futures were untraded and unchanged.

Prices in Canadian dollars per metric ton at 8:22 CDT: