Winnipeg, MB, Oct. 1, 2014

ICE Futures Canada canola contracts settled narrowly mixed on Wednesday, retreating from earlier advances by the close as farmer hedges and a lack of buying interest weighed on values.

Gains in CBOT soybeans and soyoil provided some spillover support for canola throughout the session. The November canola contract briefly moved above the psychological C$400 per tonne level, but it was unable to sustain a move above that key chart point. The general technical downtrend remains in place, which made the early gains a good selling opportunity, according to participants.

Hedges also came forward late in the day, and were not met with any significant buying interest, according to traders.

The uncertainty over the size of the Canadian canola crop did keep some caution in the market.

Statistics Canada releases updated production estimates on Friday, October 3. While most industry participants anticipate a slight upward revision to the size of the canola crop, actual yield reports have been highly variable as the harvest moves forward.

About 16,095 canola contracts were traded on Wednesday, which compares with Tuesday when 18,927 contracts changed hands. Spreading was a feature, accounting for 14,556 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     395.90    unch
                  Jan     402.30    dn 0.20
                  Mar     409.30    dn 0.20
Milling Wheat     Dec     192.00    unch
                  Mar     201.00    unch
Durum             Oct     309.70    unch
                  Dec     310.70    unch
Barley            Oct     118.00    unch
                  Dec     119.00    unch
     Spread trade prices are in Canadian dollars and the volume
represents the number of spreads:
Months        Prices                      Volume
Canola
Nov/Jan       7.00 under to 6.30 under     3,771
Nov/Mar       14.00 under to 13.00 under     972
Nov/May       20.40 under to 20.30 under     151
Nov/Jul       26.00 under                      7
Nov/Nov       32.70 under                      5
Jan/Mar       7.20 under to 6.80 under       866
Jan/May       13.70 under to 13.60 under     257
Jan/Jul       19.70 under to 19.50 under       6
Mar/May       6.80 under to 6.60 under       610
May/Jul       6.60 under to 5.70 under       328
Jul/Nov       7.00 under to 5.00 under       305

Commodity News Service