ICE Canadian canola futures rebounded slightly Thursday afternoon as tight supplies fuelled strong volume, traders said. "Spreading went berserk," one trader said. The spreading largely involved buying March and selling May by end users. March canola was up $1.30 at $413.90 per tonne on a volume of 7,834 lots, while May was down $1.20 to settle at $419.20 on volume of 8,857.
Supply was tight as some farmers were holding out for a minimum of $420 per tonne, one trader said. That caused some buyers to push up March futures, traders said. Benchmark March soyabeans on the Chicago Board of Trade ended down 3 US cents at US $8.84-1/2 per bushel. Talk circulated in Chicago markets that China and/or the European Union cancelled some US soyabean purchases.