Winnipeg Commodity Exchange canola futures were pressured on Friday by weak US markets after the US Agriculture Department confirmed trade ideas about major US crops, including soy, traders said. "We were off because they (US markets) were so weak," a canola trader said.
Another trader said some of the pressure came as farmers were pricing out delivery contracts with grain companies ahead of mid-month deadlines. Canola ended $1 to $4.40 per tonne lower, with November down $3.60 at $434.80, January down $3.80 at $446 and March down $3.10 at $455.40.
At the Chicago Board of Trade, November soybeans ended 4-3/4 US cents per bushel lower at US $9.76-3/4 and December soyoil futures were down 0.44 US cent per pound to 39.53 US cents. Scale-down exporter and crusher buying pared losses, traders said.
The Canadian Grain Commission pegged visible stocks at 1.308 million tonnes, up from 975,000 a year ago. The weekly canola crush was 70,511 tonnes, up 11.8 percent from last week with the year-to-date pace up 10 percent from a year ago. Funds rolled forward some nearby positions, with 4,737 November/January trading from $11.20 to $11.40 and 963 January/March from $8.20 to $9.
Total canola futures volume was 15,886 contracts, up from a total of 15,500 contracts on Thursday. Hedges and long speculative liquidation continued to pressure barley futures, with December down $5.30 per tonne at $192.30 and March down $1.60 at $205.40.