Jonathan Lane, Gleadell’s Trading Manager, comments on the OSR market

Over the past week the soybean market has traded in a small range. The market has been hesitant due to US government problems and the resulting lack of USDA reports. Yield reports from the US harvest continue to be better than expected, but the market awaits confirmation from the USDA. In South America plantings are underway without any major problems. The current corn versus soybean spread encourages the planting of more soybeans at the expense of corn.   

MATIF rapeseed has ticked higher throughout the week on little news but the UK domestic market has firmed on crusher buying, strong UK meal demand and a firmer euro. An ex-farm price of £300/t has been achievable across the UK in spot positions and we have seen some decent volumes of farmer selling. The UK export market remains fairly quiet, with the delivered market currently a better sell. 

In summary we feel these are good levels for farmers to be putting some sales on the books as the market is near the top of the recent range. Volatility remains a factor and although we could potentially see further upside we also have the very real possibility of the USDA increasing this year’s US production figure, followed by a large South American crop early next year.