Oilseed prices plummet as end of season looms

By FWi staff

OILSEED rape prices have plummeted just weeks before the end of the season when crushing plants will close for their annual break.

Old-crop rape values fell £11 over the week to about £113/t ex-farm on Monday, while harvest rapeseed remained stable trading just slightly below spot at £112/t.

Despite the downward pressure from large EU stocks, this weeks fall is being blamed on larger rapeseed stocks in the UK than were originally thought.

And with only weeks to go before the end of the season, the pressure is mounting for farmers to clear their sheds before harvest.

This most recent drop has checked any recovery seen over the past few weeks as the market becomes plagued by international factors affecting the soya market.

The Chicago soya-oil market – benchmark for world oil prices – has hit an all-time low during the week, said a spokesman for Banks Agriculture. “And its difficult to see where a price-recovery is going to be led from,” he added.

However, the Argentinean soyabean crop is still about 50% unharvested, noted the Home-Grown Cereals Authority. “Adverse weather there could still impact on prices in the short-term.”

But with the crushers due to close at the end of June and the possibility of an early finish for them, producers have not got long to market any remaining stocks.

Theres more seed than average left on the farm, said trader Peter Daubly of BDR Agriculture.

He believes that a larger-than-normal proportion will be carried over to next year, despite it being a false economy.

“I cant see prices rising over the next few weeks. They might drift slightly, but I think theyre about there,” he added.