No end in sight for oilseed price plunge

By FWi staff

OILSEED rape prices plunged further last week, just as many thought that prices could fall no further.

Spot values fell £6 to £124.50/t, a fall of over £45/t since the middle of December. And delivered values are little better, at £123.80/t for March deliveries, inching up to £124.50/t for April to June deliveries.

The fact that there seems to be no stop to the price slide in the near term leaves a very uncertain market situation for crushers and growers, said a spokesman from the Home-Grown Cereals Authority.

Seed is still being sold off farms, although growers are selling as little as they possibly can, said a spokesman from Glencore Grain.

Looking ahead to the coming years harvest, there is little for producers to get excited about, with prices at £110/t ex-farm in August. And with values as low as this, farmers are not committing their seed at this stage as they wait for any price gains to happen.

Good weather conditions in South America have boosted the outlook for the soyabean crop, and many in the industry are waiting for a revised production figure indicating a further increase.

This, along with the devaluation of the Real, has put Brazilian growers in a far better marketing position than their European counterparts, noted the HGCA.

Soyaoil values have now fallen to a six-year low, and Malaysian palm oil has tumbled to its lowest in over 15 months. This has again been blamed on a limited demand and larger than expected supplies.

“A price recovery looks unlikely,” said one trader. “Although with rapeseed, anything can happen.”