By Phil Franz-Warkentin, Commodity News Service Canada
WINNIPEG, May 30 (CNS Canada) – ICE Futures Canada canola contracts were down sharply at midday Tuesday, as speculative long-liquidation and farmer selling weighed on prices.
“We sprung a leak,” said a Winnipeg-based trader on the losses. He said bearish chart signals had speculators with long positions looking to liquidate, with that selling building on itself as some stops were hit on the way down.
Farmer hedges were another feature, as seeding wraps up in parts of Western Canada and producers look to sell some old crop canola, said the trader.
Losses in the Chicago Board of Trade soy complex also weighed on prices.
However, scale-down end user demand provided some underlying support. Concerns over tight old crop supplies and persistent weather issues for the new crop in some parts of the Prairies were also supportive.
About 14,000 canola contracts had traded as of 10:48 CDT.
Milling wheat, durum, and barley futures were all untraded and unchanged.
