Rapeseed meal price jumps: report
In Germany, UFOP reports that brisk demand for rapeseed meal drove prices to a three-year high. This reduced the price advantage compared to GMO-free soybean meal in compound feeds. German wholesale prices for rapeseed meal rose substantially over the past few weeks. Asking prices have surged by around 21 per cent since the beginning of February 2018, recently hovering around EUR 247 per tonne ex works. This was the highest level in almost three years.
The mid February to mid March 30-day average price for nearby rapeseed meal amounted to EUR 223 per tonne, which was up 10 per cent from the previous 30-day period. According to information published by Agrarmarkt Informations-Gesellschaft mbH (AMI), the price rise is due to an extreme scarcity of supply. Only four out of ten mills currently offer spot rapeseed meal to meet the considerable growth in demand from the compound feed industry.
In the reference period, the increase in asking prices for Brazilian GMO-free soybean meal containing 48 per cent crude protein was less sharp. At recently EUR 489 per tonne FOT (Free On Truck) Brake, buyers had to fork out only 5 per cent more than at the beginning of February. The price spread between one per cent of crude protein in rapeseed meal over one per cent of crude protein in GMO-free soybean meal recently even hit a low at EUR 2.92 per tonne.
The German Union zur Förderung von Oel- und Proteinpflanzen (UFOP) hopes that this trend in demand and prices will continue. In the light of growing vegetable oil surpluses, utilising feedstock locally to produce more GMO-free rapeseed meal is becoming more and more important for the level of producer prices of rapeseed.
Category: Fuels
