ICE rapeseed contracts climb on CBOT gains, rise in demand

Rapeseed contracts on the ICE Futures Canada platform were trading at mainly higher price levels at midday (Mar 3) with gains reflecting the advances experienced in CBOT soy and soyoil values and on a pick up in demand from the commercial sector.

Some of the early buying in rapeseed was encouraged by the advances posted by Malaysian palm oil and European rapeseed futures overnight, brokers said.

Helping to give rapeseed futures a boost was a pick up in domestic processor demand in view of improved crush margin profitability, traders said. Some crushers were said to be tightening up basis levels in order to encourage producers to deliver rapeseed up their driveways.

Routine exporter pricing of old export business to Japan and Mexico contributed to the strength in rapeseed. The buying back of previously sold positions by speculative accounts was also an underpinning price influence, traders said.

The advances in rapeseed were being limited by the strong Canadian dollar as well as by the ongoing harvest of a record sized soy crop in Brazil and Argentina. The potential for a huge increase in the area seeded to soy in the US this spring also was a factor restricting the price gains in rapeseed, brokers said.

There were an estimated 3,463 rapeseed contracts traded at 11:28 a.m. EST. Of the contracts traded, 700 consisted of spreads.