ICE canola slips with soy, harvest pressure

SASKATOON: ICE Canada canola futures dipped slightly on Thursday, weighed down by lower US soy prices and harvest pressure, traders said.

* Saskatchewan canola harvest 28 percent complete, adding commercial hedge pressure.

* Crusher buying supported the market, with margins generall attractive, and higher MATIF rapeseed prices also underpinned - trader.

* Total canola open interest of nearly 189,000 as of Tuesday was highest since March 14. Hedges adding to commercial short positions and crusher buying increasing longs - trader.

* November canola futures dipped $1.80 at $569.50 per tonne on volume of 11,359 contracts.

* January canola dropped $1.80 at $579.00 on volume of 3,196 contracts.

* November-January spread traded 2,580 times, settling at a January premium of $9.50.

* Canola market seen sound fundamentally, despite Statistics Canada's report on Wednesday of larger than expected Canadian canola stocks.. Summer heat stress resulting in poor yields in Western Canada - trader.

* Chicago September soybeans lost 3-3/4 US cents to US$14.07-1/4 per bushel. September soyoil down 0.36 cent to 57.82 US cents per lb.

* MATIF November rapeseed settled up 1 percent.

* The Canadian dollar was trading at 0.9882 or US$1.0119 at 1:15 p.m. CDT (1815 GMT), down from Wednesday's North American close of $0.9855 versus the US dollar, or US$1.0147.

* US crude oil settled down 0.3 percent at US$89.05 per barrel.

* Trade awaiting Monday's US Department of Agriculture monthly report.

Copyright Reuters, 2011