WINNIPEG, Manitoba--Intercontinental Exchange canola futures were stronger on Wednesday, the first day of trading after Christmas and Boxing Day.
The Canadian oilseed needed to play catch-up with gains made on Tuesday in the Chicago soy complex. Additional upticks on soybeans and soyoil lent more support to canola, while losses in soymeal tried to put a lid on further increases. European rapeseed was higher on the day while Malaysian palm oil was relatively steady. Declines in global crude oil prices put pressure on vegetable oils.
Although trading volumes were healthy today, lighter activity is expected for the rest of this week and could lead to significant price swings.
Canola crush margins retreated to less than C$200 per ton above the futures.
The Canadian dollar was higher at mid-afternoon Wednesday with the loonie at 75.68 U.S. cents compared to Friday's close of 75.43.
There were 34,581 contracts traded on Wednesday, which compares with Friday when 21,450 contracts changed hands. Spreading accounted for 15,138 contracts traded.
Prices are in Canadian dollars per metric ton: Canola Price Change Jan 660.70 up 15.50 Mar 669.20 up 13.90 May 676.80 up 12.90 Jul 682.30 up 12.00 Spread trade prices are Canadian dollars and the volume represents the number of spreads: Months Prices Volume Jan/Mar 5.00 under to 13.50 under 2,715 Jan/May 14.20 under to 17.90 under 41 Mar/May 6.70 under to 8.80 under 3,106 Mar/Jul 12.50 under to 13.20 under 4 Mar/Nov 8.50 under to 10.30 under 92 May/Jul 5.30 under to 6.50 under 865 May/Nov 3.70 under 2 Jul/Nov 4.70 over to 1.10 over 744
Source: Commodity News Service Canada, news@marketsfarm.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
12-27-23 1531ET