Winnipeg, MB, July 17, 2014

ICE Futures Canada canola contracts settled near unchanged on Thursday after moving up and down throughout the session in choppy, directionless trade.

Uncertainty over the size of this year's canola crop continued to provide some underlying support for the futures, with excessive moisture in some parts of the Prairies and dryness in others keeping some caution in the market, according to participants.

That uncertainty had end users looking to book some coverage on the one side, and was also making farmers reluctant sellers on the other side.

However, expectations for a big US soybean crop and the resulting losses in the CBOT soy complex did put some spillover pressure on the Canadian futures.

The technical outlook also remains bearish for canola, making any gains a good selling opportunity for speculators, according to an analyst.

About 14,625 canola contracts were traded on Thursday, which compares with Wednesday when 10,206 contracts changed hands. Spreading accounted for 8,568 of the contracts traded.

Milling wheat, durum, and barley were all untraded.

Settlement prices are in Canadian dollars per metric ton.

                          Price      Change
Canola            Nov     450.60    up 0.30
                  Jan     453.40    up 0.10
                  Mar     453.80    dn 0.20
Milling Wheat     Oct     188.00    unch
                  Dec     194.00    unch
Durum             Oct     250.00    unch
                  Dec     256.00    unch
Barley            Oct     137.50    unch
                  Dec     139.50    unch
     Spread trade prices are in Canadian dollars and the volume
represents the number of spreads:
Months        Prices                      Volume
Canola
Nov/Jan       3.20 under to 2.70 under     2,029
Nov/Mar       4.00 under to 2.80 under       872
Nov/May       0.30 over to 1.20 over          19
Nov/Jul       3.00 over to 4.40 over           2
Jan/Mar       0.90 under to 0.10 under       649
Jan/May       2.60 over to 4.00 over         251
Mar/May       3.40 over to 4.10 over         388
Jul/Nov       11.20 over to 14.60 over        74

Phil Franz-Warkentin, Commodity News Service