ICE Canadian nearby canola futures fell on Wednesday for a third straight session, following declines in allied US soyabean markets, traders said. Spreading was a feature as commodity funds continued to roll positions in the May futures contract into forward months.
Additional pressure stemmed from sluggish export demand and ideas that Canadian canola seedings for 2019 might not fall much below year-ago levels. Statistics Canada is due to report April 24 on principal field crops area. May canola ended down $3.30 at $451.20 per tonne. July canola settled down $3.50 at $458.70 per tonne and November ended down $3.50 at $470.40 per tonne.
The May-July spread traded 11,527 times between $6.90 and $7.90, premium July. Chicago Board of Trade May soyabeans settled down 9 US cents at US$8.79 per bushel on technical selling and as expectations of large South American harvests fueled concerns over export demand, traders said. Paris Matif May rapeseed futures rose 0.49 percent and Malaysian July palm oil futures rose 1.47 percent.