WINNIPEG (Dow Jones)--Grain and oilseed futures at the Winnipeg Commodity
 Exchange closed mainly lower on Wednesday as canola was undermined by slowing
 export demand, brokers said. 
  
   Canola initially was lifted by export trade but ended a bit lower in moderate
 activity. Intermonth spreading was only a small component of the trade with the
 November/January spread trading at C$7.70 to $8.00 while the November/March
 spread traded at C$14.30 to $15.50 and the January/March traded at C$6.60. An
 estimated 566 contracts were involved in the spread trade with the total volume
 estimated at 4,524 contracts, down from Tuesday's 6,434 contracts. 
  
   Canola was boosted early in the day by export demand as Japanese exporters
 priced their overnight purchases of at least 10,000 metric tons of canola.
 However, once that buying faded, the market backed down on small hedge selling
 and the absence of any significant buyers, trade sources said. 
  
   Weakness in Chicago soybean oil and the stronger Canadian dollar caused an
 erosion in crush margins to the poorest levels of the month. There was little
 fresh news in the market as the early stages of the harvest contributed to the
 bearish tone, analysts said. 
  
   Loss were minimized by the slower pace of farmer selling as cash dealers
 indicated that a drop in farm cash bids have caused farmers to back away from
 the market. 
  
   Japanese export pricing supplied the bulk of the buying with selling
 comprised of hedge offerings and commercial selling, which was thought to be
 crusher initiated. 
  
   Feed grain futures were unchanged to narrowly mixed in a lackluster trade.
 The market ignored strength in CBOT corn and reacted to the lack of end-user
 demand and the favorable crop outlook. The low level of activity allowed the
 market to respond to just small buying or selling, accounting for the
 choppiness and mixed close, brokers said. 
  
   Western barley was little changed as commission house buying was balanced by
 hedge selling as an estimated 137 contracts traded, up from 47 contracts on
 Tuesday. 
  
   Feed wheat futures were narrowly mixed in light commercial trade as much of
 the activity was comprised of intermonth spreading with the October/December
 spread traded at $4.00 to $4.20. An estimated 212 contracts traded, up from 187
 contracts on Tuesday. 
  
   Prices are in Canadian dollars per metric ton: 
  
  
             Settlement     Change 
             Prices 
 Canola 
   Nov       283.80         dn 0.70 
   Jan       291.90         dn 0.80 
 Feed Wheat 
   Oct       102.80         up 0.10 
   Dec       107.00         dn 0.10 
 Western barley 
   Oct       119.20         up 0.20 
   Dec       121.70         dn 0.30