ICE Canadian canola futures were mixed on Friday, with the front-month contract easing while deferred firmed as investors took profits on bull spreads they had established, traders said. The unwinding of the March/May spreads was triggered after it hit a $10 premium to the March on Thursday afternoon, a trader said. It settled at $6 on Friday. Some traders rolled their positions to the more actively traded May contract from the March contract, further strengthening deferred issues.
Declines in the March contract were kept in check by some fund buying. Canadian processors raised canola crushings by 5.3 percent to canola crushers processed 5.3 percent to 153,102 tonnes in the week ended January 21, according to data on Friday from the Canadian Oilseed Processors Association.