Canola Mostly Higher in Thin Trade

Canola futures were mostly higher at Thursday's close, after trading to both sides of unchanged in thin and choppy activity with markets in the US closed for Thanksgiving.

Malaysian palm oil and European rapeseed futures were both lower in overnight trade, which put some spillover pressure on the Canadian oilseed. Ideas that canola is said to be looking overpriced at current levels also weighed on values.

However, the underlying fundamentals of tight supplies and the need to ration demand remained supportive. Speculators also continue to hold large net long positions in canola, keeping them on the buy side.

Monthly crush data released by Statistics Canada showed that 876,127 tonnes of canola were crushed in October, which was down by about 55,000 from the same month the previous year, but up by nearly 100,000 from September. The total canola crush through the first three months of the 2021-22 crop year, at 2.316 million tonnes, is down by 9% from the 2.547 million crushed during the same time the previous year.

January canola was up $3.20 at $1,033.40, March gained $2.40 to $1,001.80 and May added $1.50 to $963.80.