ICE Canadian canola futures rose to a nearly four-year high Monday on follow-through buying from Friday's spike which got triggered by lower-than-expected US soybean plantings this spring. Canola competes with soybeans in the vegetable oil market and may see higher demand if soybean supplies fall short.
Speculators seen buying canola, and exporter demand has also been strong - traders. Farmers have little old crop left to sell, leaving nearby months higher priced than deferred months. May canola rose $2.60 or 0.4 percent to $625.10 per tonne on volume of 1,286 contracts at 8:19 am CDT (1319 GMT). Touched $625.80 which marked the highest price on a nearby continuous chart since July 2008.
July canola gained $3.10 to $623.00 per tonne on volume of 730 contracts. Traders see canola up $2 to $3 at Chicago Board of Trade open. CBOT soybeans called to open up 8 to 12 US cents per bushel on follow-through from Friday's bullish soy acreage estimate from USDA.
MATIF May rapeseed added 0.7 percent at 8:12 am CDT (1312 GMT). The Canadian dollar was trading at $0.9972 against the US dollar or US $1.0028, up slightly from Friday's close at $0.9975 versus the US dollar, or US $1.0025. US light crude oil eased 0.9 percent at $102.11 per barrel. Exporters sell 120,000 tonnes of US soybeans to China.