Canadian canola futures strengthened on Wednesday as sellers backed away on ideas recent losses were overdone, traders said. "We were overpriced all day" relative to the US soy complex, a canola trader said. "Canola would not break." ICE canola futures ended $5.80 to $9.70 per tonne higher, with benchmark November up $8.50 at $545.90.
Stronger crush margins inspired some crusher buying, and exporters were light buyers, traders said. September soyabeans were up 10-1/2 US cents per bushel at US $13.48 and September soyaoil was up 0.30 US cent per pound at 54.22 US cents. Short covering and small speculative buying also helped keep the market firm, traders said. "There's no (export) demand to speak of so I don't know if we're going to go crazy to the upside," a trader said.
Farmer selling has stepped back from the market as harvest work advances. Overnight temperatures could dip as low as zero degrees Celsius (32 degrees Fahrenheit) on Sunday in Edmonton, Alberta, which also provided some support. An estimated 745 November/January spreads traded from $11.20 to $11.60 with 191 January/March from $10.90 to $11.10 and 125 November/July from $42 to $43.60.
Volume was estimated at 11,245 contracts, up from a total of 10,901 on Tuesday. Barley futures were lower on hedges as volumes picked up amid fund position-rolling a trader said. October barley was down $4 per tonne at $222.40 and December down $4.70 at $230.80. An estimated 254 October/December spread traded from $8.20 to $8.50 and 40 December/March from $4.60 to $6.50.