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

Weather worries in the US have dominated the oilseeds picture this week, with hot and dry weather in North and South Dakota spreading further south into Minnesota, Iowa and Illinois.

This drought area falls right on top of a third of the US soybean planted area, with crop stress worries driving market sentiment.

Funds held a short position in beans prior to this weather development; fund short covering and speculative buying has helped to drive the December soybeans contract up by over £25/t in the past week.

Matif OSR has followed the CBOT contract up over the past week, although better weather conditions in Europe have dampened price increases on this side of the Atlantic.

Ex-farm values have appreciated by a moderate £7/t. This has meant that for nearly all growers harvest movement at £300/t ex farm has been attainable. We would suggest that those that require movement at harvest take advantage of this price uptick.