Willie Wright, an oilseed trader with Gleadell grains, offers insight into the goings on in the oilseed markets.

Crude oil continues to remain firm as a result of greater Macroeconomic confidence or less negative Eurozone debt reporting. This, and continuing worries in Iran, are supporting oil.

Soybeans are seeing profit taking pre-January 12th USDA report. The soya complex has rallied on the back of dry weather in Argentina and Brazil and, with the arrival of rain in Argentina, the weather rally may well be priced in the market.

Producers have rightly taken advantage of the holiday period rally and booked a large tonnage of rapeseed, prices post-Christmas are circa £20 per tonne better on old crop rapeseed and £15 per tonne better on new crop, ex-farm prices could have been better had it not been for Sterling’s strength against the Euro.

We have seen a sharp rally in soybeans as a result of very dry weather in Argentina and Brazil, and there is no doubt we are seeing unusually dry warm weather in Europe for the time of year. This has caused some real worries in Southern Europe/Black Sea countries such as Ukraine, Romania and Bulgaria. Generally, growingconditions for new crop rapeseed are good but we cannot ignore this unusually warm and dry weather pattern.

Macroeconomic activity remains quiet, although we do have Spanish and Italian bond auctions at the end of this week. This will give us a better idea of the professional investor view of the Eurozone debt market.