By Phil Franz-Warkentin, Commodity News Service Canada
WINNIPEG, Feb. 26 (CNS Canada) – ICE Futures canola contracts were down sharply at midday Tuesday, hitting fresh contract lows for the second-straight session.
“At the moment, canola really doesn’t have any friends,” said a trader. He said losses in Chicago Board of Trade soyoil, large Canadian canola supplies, bearish technical signals and a lack of significant end-user demand all contributed to the weakness.
The Canadian dollar was also steady at midday, having recovered from earlier declines.
“The trend is not our friend,” said the trader. He estimated that speculators were holding a net short position of about 30,000 contracts in canola and were adding to those positions as the technical signals remain pointed lower.
Meanwhile, end-users on the other side were content to watch the prices slide and were only buying on a scale-down basis.
About 15,300 canola contracts traded as of 10:38 CST.
Prices in Canadian dollars per metric tonne at 10:38 CST:
Price Change
Canola Mar 466.30 dn 4.50
May 474.20 dn 3.70
Jul 482.00 dn 3.70
Nov 485.20 dn 3.90
