By Phil Franz-Warkentin, Commodity News Service Canada
December 24, 2014
Winnipeg – ICE Futures Canada canola contracts chopped around both sides of unchanged in thin holiday trade Wednesday, but finished lower in the most active months.
Canola was up by over six dollars in the nearby January contract, as participants were working to exit the lightly traded front month, but down in the more actively traded deferred months.
Activity was described as ‘up and down’ with canola generally bouncing back and forth within a five dollar range throughout the shortened Christmas Eve session.
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Canadian markets will be closed Thursday and Friday for Christmas and Boxing Day. US markets are only closed Thursday, and the possibility of any volatility on Friday had Canadian traders squaring positions and moving to the sidelines.
Losses in the Chicago soy complex accounted for much of the spillover selling pressure in canola on Wednesday. A slightly firmer tone in the Canadian dollar was another bearish influence.
On the other side, solid end user demand and a lack of farmer selling provided underlying support.
About 19,150 canola contracts were traded on Wednesday, which compares with Tuesday when 22,858 contracts changed hands. Spreading accounted for 10,036 of the contracts traded.
Milling wheat, durum, and barley were all untraded.
SOYBEAN futures at the Chicago Board of Trade were down 9 to 11 cents in Wednesday’s shortened trading session. Activity was thin and choppy, as participants moved to the sidelines ahead of the Christmas holiday.
Solid export demand continued to provide some underlying support for soybeans, according to participants.
However, the favourable crop prospects in South America were a bearish influence overhanging the soy market.
SOYOIL was mostly lower on Wednesday, pressured by losses in outside vegetable oil markets.
SOYMEAL futures were mixed on Wednesday, although the bias was lower in the most active contracts.
CORN futures in Chicago were down by 4 to 6 cents per bushel at Wednesday’s close.
The sharp losses in wheat also spilled over to put some pressure on the corn market.
WHEAT futures in Chicago were down by 19 to 24 cents per bushel on Wednesday, as the market took back some of the gains posted earlier in the week.
After posting big advances earlier in the week, wheat was due for a bit of a correction and traders were booking profits ahead of the holidays.
While ideas Russia will implement measures to slow exports did remain supportive, that news has largely been factored into the market for the time being. In addition, US wheat is once again looking expensive in the global market, which could limit any spill-over demand created by Russia’s actions.
Settlement prices are in Canadian dollars per metric ton.
