Currency and politics knock rapeseed prices

Oilseed rape prices took a knock in the week to 13 September, losing £10.90/t to average £309.30/t ex-farm for spot movement, as rising sterling and EU trade tariffs affected the market.

In the UK the rise in inflation to 2.9% and the Commons support for the Brexit repeal bill boosted the pound to a one-year high, weakening domestic oilseed rape values, said grain traders.

In the EU, the French Matif futures exchange saw rapeseed markets take a hit after the World Trade Organization ruled in favour of reducing EU import tariffs on Argentinian biofuels.

This brought the EU biofuel market into decline with fears the market could be flooded with cheap South American imports, reducing demand for domestic rapeseed supplies. As a result, UK rapeseed values were pushed back further.

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The US Department of Agriculture had also revised its 2017-18 soya bean forecast for the second month running, putting pressure on global oilseed markets, according to a report by AHDB Cereals and Oilseeds. 

The latest World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimate, published on Tuesday (12 September), put the US soya bean yield at 3.36t/ha, up from 3.32t/ha in August, meaning US soya bean production was estimated at a record 120.6m tonnes.