Canola settled 90 cents to $4.00 per tonne lower, with November down $2.40 at $246.70 after hitting a contract low of $245.50. January fell $3.40 to $256.50 after a low of $255.50 and March was down $3.80 at $264.00.
"The market continues to fade," a trader said. "The Chicago market was weaker, and there was some fund selling. Funds were also rolling their positions to deferred months." There was talk of canola sales to Pakistan of between 50,000 to 100,000 tonnes, but traders could not confirm it.
The traders said demand from China had been sluggish, adding that more sales to other markets were needed to make up for the lost sales to the Asian country.
China, which has been battling bird flu, has also been less active than usual in the US soybean market, traders said. They said China had instead been importing soymeal to avoid building up soybean stocks amid the uncertainty over the long-term impact of bird flu on poultry consumption.