April 16, 2009

Canola futures on the ICE Canada platform were trading at higher levels as of 11:44 a.m. EDT on Wednesday (April 15). Canola contracts weakened when the CBOT soy complex turned lower shortly after the opening of trade in Chicago but firmed again as soy futures recovered, market watchers said.

A lack of aggressive selling in canola combined with good buying interest also contributed to the market's advances, brokers said.

Bullish technical signals for canola were attracting fresh speculative interest, while good canola crush margins were encouraging demand from domestic processors, they said.

Spring road bans were also an underlying supportive feature for canola as they continue to limit the pace of deliveries to line companies in western Canada, market watchers said.

Downward pressure on canola prices Wednesday was tied to the firm tone of the Canadian dollar as well as losses in CBOT soyoil futures, traders said.

There were moderate volumes in canola, with 9,899 contracts having changed hands as of 11:44 a.m. EDT. Of that amount, 5,950 trades were tied to inter-month spreading.

Futures prices for the western barley were higher although there was hardly any interest in the market, with only 15 contracts having been traded at 11:44 a.m. EDT. Fourteen of those trades were spread-based.