WINNIPEG, Manitoba--The ICE Futures canola market was holding onto gains in most months Thursday morning, seeing only a muted reaction to updated Canadian stocks data as participants await direction from the monthly United States supply/demand report due out later in the day.
Canadian canola stocks as of Dec. 31, 2023, came in at 12.851 million tonnes, which was up by only 200,000 tonnes from the same point the previous year but off the five-year average of 13.3 million tonnes, according to a report from Statistics Canada.
The stocks were in line with average trade guesses, although some market participants had been expecting larger on-farm supplies given the slower export pace this year.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture releases updated supply/demand data at 12:00 EST, with revised production estimates for South America likely to provide some direction to the North American grain and oilseed markets.
Chicago soyoil was higher ahead of the report, providing some underlying support to canola. European rapeseed and Malaysian palm oil futures were also up on the day.
About 11,000 canola contracts had traded as of 9:35 EST.
Intermonth spreading was a feature of the activity, as participants continued to roll their positions out of the March contract and into May.
Prices in Canadian dollars per metric ton at 9:35 EST:
Canola
Price Change
Mar 597.10 up 3.60
May 603.10 up 3.70
Jul 607.80 up 3.60
Nov 606.90 up 2.80
Source: Commodity News Service Canada, news@marketsfarm.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
02-08-24 1011ET
