ICE Canola Mixed, C$ Supportive, But Large Crops Weigh

The Canadian dollar was down by nearly a cent relative to its US counterpart on Monday, making canola more attractive for both domestic crushers and exporters, said a broker.

Exporter pricing was thought to be accounting for some of the activity in canola, although traders couldn’t confirm any fresh sales.

A light frost in parts of central and northern Alberta overnight also provided some support for canola, although the broker thought the frost was likely too small to cause any major damage.

In addition to the losses in the CBOT soy complex, the upside in canola was also limited by the ongoing harvest progress in western Canada, said the broker. He said yield results continue to beat expectations and noted that most areas will only need one more week of good weather to be past the point of frost susceptibility.

Farmer selling was thought to be picking up as the harvest nears completion. The broker said the good yields meant that many producers who had thought they were 30% to 40% sold on their canola were actually only 20% sold, and now are forced with pricing more of their crop. Bin space issues were also behind some farmer selling.

While the farmer selling is picking up, basis levels still remain firm in western Canada, which the broker saw as a sign of the good demand underpinning the market.

At 10:57 CDT, about 8,200 canola contracts had changed hands.

Western barley futures were untraded at midsession.

Prices in Canadian dollars per metric ton at 10:57 CDT: