ICE Canadian canola futures climbed to a fresh 5-1/2 month high on Tuesday on strong demand from domestic processors and exporters, with a rising soy complex on the Chicago market lending support, traders said. A firmer Canadian dollar did little to derail the recent rally in canola, which has seen front-month futures go without a lower close for 16 consecutive sessions.
Spot March futures gained 10 cents to $573.40 per tonne as of 8:32 am CST (1432 GMT) after earlier hitting a peak of $574.50, the highest since September 12. Benchmark May was $1.60 higher at $570.00 per tonne. The market was technically overbought. Traders cited potential chart resistance in the May contract around $5.80 and $5.90. Early volume in March was 236 contracts while actively traded May changed hands 1,351 times. Traders called canola to open $1 to $2 per tonne higher at the opening of the Chicago Board of Trade.