ICE canola sharply lower at midday Monday

Glacier FarmMedia | MarketsFarm — The ICE Futures canola market was sharply lower at midday Monday, falling below nearby chart support as losses in Chicago soyoil weighed on values.

The old crop July and new crop November contracts both fell below their 20-day moving averages, with the July futures trading under C$700 per tonne for the first time in two weeks.

Speculative fund traders were holding a record-large net long position in canola futures of over 100,000 contracts as of May 27 — likely leaving the market vulnerable to long liquidation.

Strength in the Canadian dollar was also bearish for canola, with the currency at eight-month highs relative to its United States counterpart.

However, tight old crop supplies and production uncertainty for the new crop provided some underlying support.

An estimated 36,500 canola contracts traded as of 10:36 CDT.

Prices in Canadian dollars per metric tonne at 10:36 CDT:

Canola            Jul   693.90    dn 17.20

Nov   674.30    dn 14.30

Jan   682.20    dn 12.50

Mar   692.30    dn  8.20