WINNIPEG, Manitoba--The ICE Futures canola market was weaker on Wednesday, retreating from earlier gains in the final hour of trade.

Canola had been trading within a few dollars of unchanged for most of the session before turning sharply lower in sympathy with Chicago soyoil. Traders were unsure what may have sparked the selloff.

The United States Department of Agriculture released interim guidelines on climate smart agricultural practices for growing crops for biofuel production, while monthly U.S. crush data was also released around the same time. However, neither report was bearish for oilseeds.

Uncertainty over possible U.S. tariffs did remain a bearish influence. The U.S. is the primary destination for Canadian canola oil exports, and the 25 percent tariffs threatened by incoming U.S. President Donald Trump would seriously cut into that movement.

The March contract dropped below its 200-day moving average, likely encouraging additional speculative selling pressure. However, support held at the 50- and 100-day averages with canola settling well off its session lows.

A merger between Bunge Ltd. and Glencore-backed Viterra was cleared by the Canadian government on Tuesday. The Grain Growers of Canada released a statement saying it was "extremely disappointed" by the takeover, claiming it will cost farmers about C$770 million in annual sales.

There were an estimated 75,170 contracts traded on Wednesday, which compares with Tuesday when 60,889 contracts traded. Spreading accounted for 46,828 of the contracts traded.

Settlement prices are in Canadian dollars per metric tonne.


 
           Price      Change 
Mar       641.60     dn 6.10 
May       650.80     dn 4.80 
Jul       656.80     dn 3.90 
Nov       637.10     dn 2.70 

Spread trade prices are in Canadian dollars and the volume represents the number of spreads:


 
Months    Prices                            Volume 
Mar/May   8.50 under to 10.70 under         13,656 
Mar/Jul   13.30 under to 18.50 under           200 
Mar/Nov   4.40 over to 0.50 under               45 
May/Jul   4.80 under to 7.90 under           5,340 
May/Nov   14.20 over to 9.30 over               48 
Jul/Nov   20.20 over to 16.40 over           4,091 
Nov/Jan   5.00 under to 5.70 under              28 
Jan/Mar   0.60 under                             5 
May/Jul   3.00 over                              1 
 

Source: Commodity News Service Canada, news@marketsfarm.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

01-15-25 1558ET