Canola futures ended just slightly lower on Thursday as the prospect of a possible railway strike continued to cast a shadow over the market.
Federal Labour Minister Steve MacKinnon today rejected CN Rail’s request for binding arbitration to settle the dispute with the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference. Around 10,000 CN and CPKC workers remain eligible to strike or be locked out as of Aug. 22, a development that would halt Prairie grain movement.
The weekly Saskatchewan crop report today pegged the harvest in that province at 6% complete as of Monday, slightly behind the five-year average. An estimated 1% of the canola was in the bin.
Soybean futures were little changed today, with soyoil lower.
November canola dropped 50 cents to $577.80, and January lost 30 cents to $588.30.
