Oilseed rape prices climb on tight supply

Tight supply both domestically and across the EU is set to keep oilseed rape prices high for the next few months.

Prices firmed again this week to average just over £471/t ex-farm for August on Friday morning, up £14/t on the week in a very volatile market.

This is despite falls in crude oil prices in recent weeks because of concern over travel restrictions and lockdowns due to continued spread of the Delta coronavirus variant around the world.

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Regionally, spot prices varied from £465/t ex-farm in north-east Scotland to £477/t in the East Midlands, Cambridgeshire and Bedfordshire, with many counties at £475/t.

The EU oilseed rape crop is put at about 17m tonnes, which is about 3% higher than last year. However, the Canadian crop size has been downgraded from 19.5m tonnes to between 15m and 16m tonnes.

ADM Agriculture’s head of oilseeds, Will Ringrose, said the market was digesting ongoing declines in production estimates for Canada, which many believe could fall further yet.

While a big drop was expected after the recent heat dome damaged crops, the figures are stark and confirm the reduction in export availability.

Supplies from Australia, one of the other main sources of imports for the UK and EU, will not be arriving in the UK until early next year, hence the firm short-term outlook.

New crop values are about £103/t behind 2021 prices.