ICE Review: Canola Ends Lower After Choppy Day

WINNIPEG, Manitoba--The ICE Futures canola market settled with small losses, as spillover from declines in the Chicago soy complex countered the supportive influence of a weaker Canadian dollar.

* The March contract traded above C$650 per tonne for the sixth-straight session on Friday, but once again ran into resistance at that chart point to settle slightly lower.

* Losses in the Chicago soy complex accounted for much of the spillover selling pressure in canola. European rapeseed and Malaysian palm oil futures were also weaker.

* The Canadian dollar backed away from the 16-month highs relative to its United States counterpart hit yesterday, losing roughly half a cent. The softer currency underpinned crush margins and made exports more attractive to international buyers.

* Canada exported 241,100 tonnes of canola during the week ended Jan. 19, which was down by 15 per cent from the previous week, reported the Canadian Grain Commission. Crop year-to-date exports of 3.45 million tonnes were 35 per cent behind the year-ago pace.

* There were 53,441 contracts traded on Friday, which compares with Thursday when 30,446 contracts changed hands.

Spreading was a feature, accounting for 39,432 of the contracts traded.

Settlement prices in Canadian dollars per metric tonne.

 
           Price      Change 
Mar       648.00     dn 0.70 
May       659.20     dn 0.40 
Jul       666.60     dn 0.50 
Nov       657.30     dn 0.20 

Spread trade prices are in Canadian dollars and the volume represents the number of spreads:

 
Months    Prices                            Volume 
Mar/May   10.40 under to 11.20 under        12,644 
Mar/Jul   18.00 under to 18.60 under           538 
Mar/Nov   8.70 under to 10.10 under            224 
May/Jul   7.10 under to 7.80 under           3,647 
May/Nov   2.30 over to 0.70 over                34 
Jul/Nov   9.70 over to 7.90 over             2,239 
Jul/Jan   1.50 over                            100 
Nov/Jan   7.30 under to 8.00 under             259 
Jan/Mar   5.20 under to 5.90 under              31 
 

Source: Commodity News Service Canada, news@marketsfarm.com