ICE canola ends higher, led by US soyoil, crude

CHICAGO: ICE Canada canola futures closed higher on Wednesday, following strength in US soyoil, crude oil and equities markets, traders said.

* The absences of farmer hedge-related selling added support, along with talk of possible exporter pricing.

* November canola futures settled $2.90 higher at $571.30 per tonne on volume of 12,101 contracts.

* January canola ended up $3 at $580.80 on volume of 4,469 contracts.

* November/January spread traded 3,455 times with a carry as wide as $9.50, premium January, traders said.

* Statistics Canada reported July 31 canola stocks at 1.828 million tonnes, down 19.2 percent from 2010 but above the average trade estimate of 1.3 million tonnes. Traders noted that the government raised its estimate 2010 canola production by about 900,000 tonnes.

* The larger-than-expected canola stocks figure pressured front-month November relative to back months, traders said.

* CBOT soybeans ended mixed, with nearby contracts down on technical selling and soft cash markets ahead of the US soy harvest. Benchmark November ended down 1-3/4 US cents at US$14.20-3/4 per bushel

* But CBOT soyoil ended higher, buoyed by strength in the crude oil market, with most-active December up 0.63 US cents, or 1.1 percent, at 58.67 US cents per lb.

* The Canadian dollar was trading at 0.9863 or US$1.0139 at 2:40 p.m. CDT (1940 GMT), up from Tuesday's North American session close at C$0.9898 to the US dollar, or $1.0103.

* US crude oil settled up 3.9 percent at US$89.34 per barrel.

Copyright Reuters, 2011