By Phil Franz-Warkentin, MarketsFarm

WINNIPEG, Feb. 26 (MarketsFarm) – The ICE Futures canola market was weaker at Friday, as speculators booked profits and end users backed away from the buy side.

“Line companies are dropping their bids,” said a trader adding that the market “is doing its job.”

He expected that exporters and domestic crushers were well covered for the next few months, with a resulting downturn in the cash market spilling into the futures.

Weakness in the Chicago Board of Trade soy complex put some spillover pressure on canola as well.

However, sharp weakness in the Canadian dollar provided underlying support, according to the trader. Ongoing concerns over tight old crop supplies also helped temper the declines.

About 25,500 canola contracts traded as of 10:44 CST.

Prices in Canadian dollars per metric tonne at 10:44 CST:

Price Change
Canola Mar 764.00 dn 26.10
May 726.10 dn 9.10
Jul 695.50 dn 9.40
Nov 592.20 dn 6.00