Jonathan Lane, trading manager at Gleadell, gives a recap of the oilseed rape market, which appears to have settled down somewhat.

After the wild price movement of previous weeks the rapeseed market has been comparatively quiet. Prices on the Matif have been trading in a relatively narrow range and the biggest influence on UK farm gate prices has been the swings in the currency.

The bulk of the UK’s rapeseed harvest is in the barn and it would be fair to say that most growers have been delighted with their yields. From the anecdotal evidence we have heard thus far it would be safe to assume that the UK has harvested the biggest crop ever. Fortunately for British farmers, the EU-27 remains short of rapeseed overall and the crushers in Germany and Holland are likely to remain keen buyers of UK sustainable rapeseed and we continue to see good enquires on an almost daily basis for the pre-Christmas positions.

The crush margins have improved and EU seed looks comparatively cheap versus other global origins given the volume that the EU needs to import. But, the overall flat price direction of this market remains a difficult one to call. We will continue to track moves in soy and, critically, crude oil and, whilst the S&D should ultimately point to higher prices, the Macro’s and influences of outside markets will make for extreme volatility for the foreseeable future.