Ölsaaten News, 02/17/2023

On a weekly basis, the prices for rapeseed fell slightly. Overall, however, rapeseed continued to be volatile both on the cash markets and on the Paris stock exchange. France's Ministry of Agriculture has revised the acreage for the country upwards. According to estimates by the Ministry of Agriculture, farmers have planted rapeseed on an area of 1.34 million hectares, which corresponds to an increase of 9 percent. Hardly any rapeseed is traded on the local cash markets. Most of the talks are focused on deliveries for the new harvest. Canola on the ICE in Winnipeg has also been under some pressure lately. Negative guidance from the soybean complex and a weak market environment overall weighed on trading in Winnipeg. Some support came from solid export numbers and a slightly weaker Canadian dollar against the US dollar. The rapeseed meal prices were not uniform in the individual locations, but mostly stable. The EU Commission has not published any new import figures for this week due to technical problems. These are expected to be announced in the coming weeks. Most recently, rapeseed imports were well above the volume of the previous year.Fundamental support for rapeseed and vegetable oils as a whole came from the crude oil market. The better economic prospects for China have recently caused crude oil prices to rise again. The statements from Russia on the future of the current grain agreement had a negative effect on rapeseed, particularly at the beginning of the week. Several official representatives and finally also the Foreign Ministry criticized the agreement as not working for Russia. The main reason for criticism is that Western countries are avoiding Russian agricultural goods. The soy complex was under pressure overall. The beans were able to increase significantly on a few days, but on a weekly basis there are red signs on the display board for both soybean meal and soybeans. Solid export figures from the USA provide support. For example, a large export sale by the USDA to an unknown buyer could be announced yesterday. The export sales published yesterday were also at the upper end of the expected range. Little has changed about the drought in Argentina. There is currently no precipitation in sight. In Brazil, the harvest continues to falter due to rain showers.Even if AgRural slightly reduced its forecast for the harvest volume yesterday, everything still points to a record harvest in the South American country. However, due to the faltering harvest in Brazil, export shipments are currently slightly below the level of the previous year. The weak US processing figures had a negative effect. Although these were slightly better than in December, they were well below market expectations and the level from January 2022. Even though soybean meal prices on the CBOT have recently fallen slightly, spot market prices in Germany have increased.