January 17, 2008

ICE Canada rapeseed falls as soy complex weakens

Rapeseed futures traded on ICE Futures Canada were lower at 10:35 a.m. CST.

Downward movement seen earlier in the session continued as weakness in the CBOT soy complex gave additional downward pressure, market watchers said.

Losses in the energy markets also helped to undermine rapeseed prices.

ICE feed wheat futures meanwhile, were steady to lower.

Sentiment that rapeseed was overbought and due for a downward price correction also weighed on the commodity, traders said. Fund-based profit-taking and bearish technical signals further contributed to the downward price action.

Losses in rapeseed were limited by the depreciation of the Canadian dollar, which served as an underlying price support. Routine exporter pricing as well as steady domestic crusher demand also helped to offset the softer prices.

Trading volume in rapeseed was lighter than in the previous day's session. At 10:35 a.m. CST, 7,766 canola futures contracts had been traded. Of that amount, roughly 5,000 were thought to be spread related.