Winnipeg, MB, August 6, 2014

ICE Futures Canada canola contracts ended firmer on Wednesday, taking some direction from the gains seen in the Chicago soy complex, analysts said.

Though, cautiousness ahead of next Tuesday's monthly USDA report helped to limit the upside.

Traders were also waiting to see what the weather will do until harvest in both the US and Western Canada before making any big moves, brokers said.

A lack of aggressive selling from farmers and the funds was helping to underpin the market, as were worries about problems in Ukraine and Russia possibly disrupting agricultural exports out of the region.

However, forecasts calling for beneficial weather for oilseed crop development in North America this week were bearish.

The upswing in the value of the Canadian dollar also weighed on prices.

About 11,506 contracts traded on Wednesday, which compares with Tuesday, when 18,538 contracts changed hands. Spreading accounted for 3,582 of the trades.

Milling wheat, durum and barley futures were untraded and unchanged.

Settlement prices are in Canadian dollars per metric ton.

                          Price      Change
Canola            Nov     442.00    up  2.70
                  Jan     446.90    up  2.50
                  Mar     447.80    up  2.50
Milling Wheat     Oct     194.00      unch
                  Dec     199.00      unch
Durum             Oct     250.00      unch
                  Dec     256.00      unch
Barley            Oct     136.50      unch
                  Dec     138.50      unch

Months        Prices                      Volume
Canola
Nov/Jan       5.20 under to 4.70 under     1,003
Nov/Mar       6.00 under to 5.50 under        53
Nov/May       1.80 under to 1.70 under         2
Nov/Jul       2.50 over to 3.00 over          17
Jan/Mar       1.20 under to 0.60 under       371
Jan/May       2.50 over to 2.60 over          93
Mar/May       3.30 over to 3.70 over         177
May/Jul       4.00 over to 4.80 over          50
Jul/Nov       5.10 over to 7.20 over          25

Terryn Shiells, Commodity News Service Canada