ICE Canola Moves Higher, Supported By Crusher Demand

Winnipeg – Canola futures on the ICE Canada platform were higher at 11:12 CDT Monday, taking some direction from the gains seen in the CBOT soy complex, according to traders.

A Winnipeg-based analyst said the strength in the CBOT soy complex was spilling over to canola, with ideas the Chinese buying of soybeans could translate into fresh canola sales as well.

Strong crush margins were helping encourage domestic processor demand, which was a key feature on the buy side of the market, according to the analyst. He thought there was also likely some exporter interest in canola, although no fresh sales were reported.

In addition to the commercial demand, the analyst thought canola was also benefitting from a slowdown in farmer hedges. He said producers made good sales in recent weeks, and were now waiting for prices to move higher before making any more commitments. In addition, farmers are also starting to get busy with spring field work, which should limit the country movement in the upcoming weeks.

As of 11:12 CDT, 8,300 canola contracts had changed hands, with inter-month spreading a moderate feature.

Western barley futures were also higher, taking their cue from CBOT corn. Spring road bans also remained a supportive price influence for feed barley. There were about 460 barley contracts traded as 11:12 CDT.