WINNIPEG, (Manitoba): ICE canola futures ended mixed on Wednesday, as recent price weakness led to bargain-buying in the front-month contract.

With relatively high crush margins and cheap canola prices, Canadian crushers may be raising offers to encourage more delivery from farmers, a trader said.

May canola rose $1.70 to $771 per tonne. But most-active July canola lost $5 to settle at $742.10 per tonne. Contracts for delivery of the new crop, in November and later, were weaker, as traders evaluate its potential with little planting underway yet in Canada. May-July canola spread, the most active inter-month spread, traded 14,902 times. US soybean futures regained some ground lost earlier in the session amid a bumper harvest in Brazil. Euronext May rapeseed futures fell, and France’s farm ministry said farmers are expected to sow more soft wheat and rapeseed for this year’s harvest.