Jonathan Lane, Gleadell’s trading manager, relays the latest news from the oilseeds market.

US soybean futures dived lower this week with the biggest move coming yesterday following the bearish USDA report. 

Soybean prices have now fallen to 3½ month lows, with the USDA increasing ending stocks despite the strong demand. But it was really the spill-over pressure from the huge sell off in the corn and wheat markets that drove prices down as both complexes fell by their daily limit.

In Europe the market has also fallen sharply. The sentiment stemming from the weaker soy market, added to better than expected yields from the crops that are now being cut in South and South Eastern Europe, have undermined prices.

The combines will be moving into the Paris basin over the next week and the production we see from this region should give us a strong indication of what we can expect to see in terms of European production this campaign. The market had been expecting a disaster and it’s looking increasingly likely that things might not be as bad as previously thought. That is why we have seen the sharp retrenchment in prices.

In the UK, farm gate prices have been cushioned from the full value of the declines by the sharp fall in sterling, and current prices still represent good returns for farmers.

Crops in the South East of the UK have been sprayed off in the last week so, weather permitting, we are expecting to see the first new crop rapeseed in about a fortnight.