MarketsFarm — ICE Futures canola contracts moved steadily higher over the week ended Wednesday, hitting the top-end of a three month trading range.
While tight Canadian supplies due to a Prairie drought have underpinned the market for some time, the latest strength and any future direction may be more closely tied to movement in energy markets.
“There seems to be a mindset shift occurring here, and it’s making canola become a pure energy play,” analyst Mike Jubinville of MarketsFarm said.
With crude oil, natural gas and other energy markets seeing strength around the world “I think canola is getting caught up in the process,” Jubinville said, adding “the energy issues are providing the underlying force behind the market right now.
Read Also
Feed Grains Weekly: Price likely to keep stepping back
As the harvest in southern Alberta presses on, a broker said that is one of the factors pulling feed prices lower in the region. Darcy Haley, vice-president of Ag Value Brokers in Lethbridge, added that lower cattle numbers in feedlots, plentiful amounts of grass for cattle to graze and a lacklustre export market also weighed on feed prices.
“As long as the bullish momentum is being maintained in the energy sector, it’s hard to envision canola falling back in any sustained fashion.”
Rapeseed grown in Europe is a major feedstock for biodiesel production there, with rapeseed futures trading at record high levels. Jubinville expected activity in European rapeseed would be a key feature to watch in the Canadian canola market.
“If we have a change in momentum in the energy sector, that will extinguish this current rally,” he added.
— Phil Franz-Warkentin reports for MarketsFarm from Winnipeg.
