ICE Canola Strengthens As Export Demand Picks Up

Much of the activity was confined to the two nearby months were the rolling of positions out of the nearby March contract and into the May future, brokers said.

Much of the support seen overnight in canola came from the advances posted in the e-CBOT soybean complex and Malaysian palm oil, brokers said.

Additional buying, however, came from commercials who were said to be covering fresh Canadian canola business with Pakistan, brokers said. Confirmation of the sale was lacking from exporters.

Some of the upward movement in canola also came from the slow pace of farmer deliveries during the weekend and from the routine pricing of old export sales, traders said.

A small improvement in crush markets for domestic processors also was a supportive price influence for canola, traders said.

Minor gains in CBOT soybean and soyoil futures were also helping to generate some support for canola.

A pull-back in the value of the Canadian dollar against other major currencies was also viewed as a small underpinning price influence.

The advances in canola were being tempered by the large domestic supply of canola as well as the large global oilseed supply situation.

There were an estimated 7,709 canola contracts traded at 10:29 CST. Of the contracts traded, 6,808 consisted of spreads.

There were 34 western barley futures traded as of 10:29 CST. Light commercial demand in the absence of willing sellers allowed the May contract to climb higher, traders said.