Oilseed price movements remain limited
The oilseed rape price on the Paris futures market remains at the top end of the range of € 430 to € 445 per ton.
There was a brief movement above this level at the end of last month, but price developments quickly returned to the bandwidth at the beginning of December where they became stuck at the beginning of October.
On Monday, December 11, the Paris stock exchange closed the February contract for rapeseed at € 445.75 per ton. Price formation thus benefited from a slightly upward trend for oilseeds. But there is not much change in the market. On Tuesday, December 12, the price dropped slightly to around € 443 per ton.
Delay in sowing soy
In Chicago, the first expiring contract for soy, January 2024, rose to around € 456 per ton. The price increase is supported by lower harvest expectations in Brazil. Delays in sowing are weighing on forecasts. Brazilian consultancy Conab lowered its estimate for soybean production in 2034-24 by 2.24 million tons to 160 million tons. At the end of last week, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) cut its crop forecast in Brazil by 2 million tons to 161 million tons.
Despite the reductions, Brazil is currently expecting a harvest larger than in previous years. However, this was already factored into the pricing. On the other hand, the larger harvest is compensated by a greater import requirement in China. USDA has increased its forecast for China’s soy imports by 2 million tons to 102 million tons.
