By Dave Sims, Commodity News Service Canada
Winnipeg, December 29 (CNS Canada) – Canola contracts on the ICE Futures Canada platform finished slightly higher on Friday, propped up by gains in United States soybeans and soyoil.
Cold temperatures across the Prairies discouraged farmer deliveries.
The most-active March contract received some technical support at the C$485 per tonne mark.
The market chopped around on the day amid thin volumes.
However, improving weather in Argentina dragged on prices.
Some speculators took profits before the long weekend.
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The Canadian dollar was a quarter of a cent higher, relative to its U.S. counterpart, which made canola less attractive to out-of-country buyers.
Around 13,485 canola contracts were traded on Friday, which compares with Thursday when around 20,639 contracts changed hands. Spreading accounted for 7,756 of the contracts traded.
Settlement prices are in Canadian dollars per metric tonne.
Soybean futures on the Chicago Board of Trade ended four to six cents higher on Friday in corrective trade.
Weakness in the United States dollar was supportive for soybeans.
Weekly soybean exports in the U.S. came in at 975,000 tonnes, which were at the low end of analysts’ estimates.
Corn futures fell one cent on Friday as traders took year-end positions.
Weekly export sales in the U.S. came in at 1.25 million tonnes, which was higher than what most traders were expecting.
Icy weather on the Illinois River has been delaying some barge traffic.
Chicago wheat futures finished one cent weaker in technical trading on Friday.
The market chopped around with little direction for much of the day.
Export sales came in at 478,000 tonnes for the week. That was near the upper range of traders’ estimates.
