Ölsaaten News, 04/06/2023

The oilseed markets were anything but uniform this week. But shortly before Easter, rapeseed, soybeans, canola and palm oil find a common direction: south. Rapeseed is also falling in today's trading, yesterday there were very clear setbacks with daily losses of more than 25 euros in the front month. With a closing price of 453 euros/t, the front month lost 22.75 euros/t on a weekly basis up to yesterday evening. At the beginning of the week, the oilseeds received significant support from the crude oil markets. After the announcement of the production cut by OPEC+, not only WTI and Brent shot up significantly. The rapeseed imports of the European Union continue to show a high level. A total of 6.27 million tons of rapeseed were imported up to the 40th calendar week, compared to 3.94 million tons at the beginning of April last year. Like sunflowers and sunflower meal imports, rapeseed meal imports have also increased significantly. On the other hand, Europeans bought and imported less soya and soya meal on the international market. In Canada, farmers are worried about their upcoming harvest.A thin patch of snow in some parts and high drought in other areas are not very conducive to plant growth. In Europe, farmers are said to be quite satisfied with the development of their stocks. As data from the German Weather Service shows, March was very rainy overall, and the ground water reserves were replenished. A lot of rain has also fallen in France and Great Britain. In its most recent forecast, the EU Commission assumes a record oilseed harvest in Europe. The rapeseed harvest is expected to be around the same as the previous year. Sunflowers and soybeans are primarily responsible for the year-on-year increase. At the beginning of the week, the soybean market benefited from the significant increase in crude oil prices, but had to lose value again in the last few days. The harvest in Brazil is progressing, a good 76 percent should have been brought in by the end of last week. At the same time, exports in the South American country are dynamic and high. The consulting firm StoneX raised its forecast for the Brazilian harvest yesterday and expects 3 million tons more than the previous estimate. StoneX estimates the harvest at a volume of 157.5 million tons.The USDA issued a forecast of 153 million tons in the March WASDE. Newer figures from the Ministry of Agriculture come with the April WASDE, which will be published on April 12th. US exports, on the other hand, have not yet returned to their former strengths, although yesterday the USDA reported a single sale of 276,000 tons to a buyer of unknown origin. Market participants suspect China behind this purchase. The weather forecast for the main cultivation areas in the USA is good, with hardly any precipitation and warm temperatures, soybean sowing should start soon and make rapid progress. Soybean meal has also been under pressure recently. Especially because Argentina's government wants to reintroduce the so-called soy dollar. This guarantees exporters a fixed exchange rate to the dollar and hopes to bring new foreign exchange reserves into the country. On the spot markets in Germany, soybean meal prices have recently also fallen. Looking at the EU import statistics, fewer soybeans were imported in the current marketing year. Soybean meal has also been imported to a lesser extent up to now.