July 10, 2008

Rapeseed contracts on ICE Futures Canada finished mostly higher Wednesday (July 10, 2008) after straddling both negative and positive territories.

Weakness in rapeseed was associated with the renewed strength in the Canadian dollar while advances in the CBOT soy complex provided much of the support, market watchers said.

Some positions were squared ahead of Friday's latest round of supply/demand reports from the USDA, brokers said.

The upside price movement in CBOT soy and soyoil futures sparked some light local and commission house buying, which was enough to prop up most rapeseed contracts, traders said.

The absence of significant hedge offers from the market, as producers remained reluctant to sell, further underpinned rapeseed values.

Advances in Malaysian palm oil and strength in global crude oil prices also generated some support for rapeseed.

Light exporter pricing of both old and new business was also evident early in the session, but when that interest later dried up, the upside in rapeseed began to falter, brokers said.

There were an estimated 6,953 rapeseed contracts traded during Wednesday's session, down from 9,961 during the previous session. Western barley futures were mixed in thin, commercially dominated activity. Weakness in CBOT corn futures were viewed as bearish for values while slow farmer sales provided some minor support, brokers said.

An estimated 119 barley contracts changed hands during the session. On Tuesday, 236 contracts were traded.