Smaller rapeseed crop sends prices spiking

In Germany, UFOP reports that the ongoing heatwave in the EU-28 is anticipated to lead to a significantly smaller rapeseed harvest than previously expected and prices have already risen considerably and are likely to increase further.

German ex-farm prices of rapeseed from the 2018 crop have surged substantially over the past few weeks. Since the beginning of July 2018, asking prices have surged on average by around EUR 11 per tonne to EUR 347 per tonne. Consequently, rapeseed prices have gone up more than 6 per cent since hitting this year’s lows at the end of April. This is due to the foreseeably disappointing rapeseed harvest in many countries of the EU-28. In Germany and France, and also outside the EU in Ukraine, crop yields and in some cases oil content are expected to be low. Depending on region, the decline in yield amounts to 10 per cent to 40 per cent compared to the previous year, Agrarmarkt-Informationsgesellschaft (AMI) has reported. Based on the first threshing results, market observers expect Germany to see the smallest rapeseed harvest in ten years. However, it is too early for results to be conclusive. Accordingly, producers’ supply of new-crop rapeseed is low. On the one hand, no one wants to run the risk of not being able to comply with contracts they entered into. On the other hand, farmers are speculating on significantly firmer prices due to the foreseeably tight availability. The Union zur Förderung von Oel- und Proteinpflanzen (UFOP) has indicated that it hopes the current development in prices will make rapeseed more interesting for the oncoming sowing season. For reasons of crop rotation, there is no alternative to rapeseed as the most important leaf crop in most production regions.