ICE Canola Mixed In Choppy, Active Trade

There was little clear direction from the CBOT soy complex Friday, adding to the choppiness seen in canola. Soyoil was higher, soymeal was mainly lower and soybeans had already traded a number of time on both sides of unchanged, market watchers said.

There was support for canola prices from the weak tone of the Canadian dollar and also from gains in crude oil futures, traders said.

Buying interest tied to the covering of canola export business and strong crush margins was also thought to be providing a floor for the market.

However, there was downward pressure on canola values tied to profit-taking ahead of the weekend and some light commercial selling, brokers said.

Traders said there had been some speculative buying earlier in the session but that most of it appeared to have dried up when CBOT soybeans turned lower.

As of 10:57 CDT, 16,556 canola contracts had changed hands, up from the previous day’s volumes. Of that amount, 10,716 trades were tied to inter-month spreading.

Prices were sharply lower in the western barley market although values were easily pushed lower on account of the market’s extremely thin volume. There were only two barley contracts traded as 10:57 CDT.

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