Jonathan Lane, Gleadell’s trading director, comments on the OSR market

The US soybean market has firmed this week with some concerns that wet weather may delay remaining plantings and that crop ratings were slightly below expectations. The weather news and waning selling momentum on technical indicators (charts) encouraged short covering/profit taking, propelling the market higher. The larger picture points to an ample supply of soybeans but the key is can the gains now hold and a more sustained pullback take place?

The European old-crop rapeseed market continues to frustrate the remaining shorts in mainland Europe as seed is very difficult to find. The new crop market is fairly slow but we have seen some limited farmer selling in certain regions, including the UK, as target levels of £250/t ex farm were hit.  At present we see no major problems in Europe, we have seen some dryness in areas of Germany and Poland but as yet it is not a major concern.

In the UK a firmer pound has negated the uplift in MATIF futures prices and we are little changed on the week.