Winnipeg, MB, August 21, 2014

ICE Futures Canada canola contracts ended lower on Thursday, making new lows during the session and settling below support in the November contract.

The losses came despite a friendly Statistics Canada production report, as traders shrugged it off and shifted focus to ongoing expectations of record large US bean production, analysts said.

StatsCan pegged 2014/15 Canadian canola production at 13.91 million tonnes, which was at the low end of expectations and below the 17.96 million tonnes grown last year.

Some of the price weakness was linked to chart-based selling after the market tested new lows, with the stronger Canadian dollar also weighing on values.

Forecasts calling for rain across the Prairies this weekend, which could benefit some later seeded crops, added to the bearish tone.

However, worries about cold temperatures possibly damaging Canadian crops next week limited the declines.

About 14,354 contracts traded on Thursday, which compares with Wednesday when 17,500 contracts changed hands. Spreading accounted for 7,642 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     419.60    dn  4.60
                  Jan     424.90    dn  4.40
                  Mar     430.00    dn  3.90
Milling Wheat     Oct     201.00      unch
                  Dec     206.00      unch
Durum             Oct     250.00      unch
                  Dec     256.00      unch
Barley            Oct     135.00      unch
                  Dec     137.00      unch

Months        Prices                      Volume
Canola
Nov/Jan       5.90 under to 4.80 under     2,135
Nov/Mar       10.60 under to 10.40 under      20
Nov/May       11.50 under to 9.40 under       79
Jan/Mar       5.20 under to 4.20 under       684
Jan/May       4.80 under to 3.80 under       125
Mar/May       0.60 under to 0.70 over        332
May/Jul       unchanged to 1.60 over         167
Jul/Nov       0.70 under to 1.10 over        279

Commodity News Service Canada