Marketing of new-crop rapeseed meal in progress

Buyers expected the marketing season for byproducts of new-crop rapeseed to start earlier than it did. But they also hoped for more substantial price concessions. The commodity, however, remained in short supply. At the end of July, spot commodity cost around 300 euros (USD$353) per metric ton ex mill. Deliveries from August onwards were at 250 euros per ton, up 50 euros per ton year-on-year. Asking prices have not declined since then, because the feedstock has become more expensive. Buyers were hoping for supply from the oil mills to exceed demand and for prices to fall. But it did not look like this was actually going to happen. Rapeseed meal was valued at the same price until the October delivery date, whereas premiums were asked for delivery from November onwards. The fact that rapeseed meal was available again was reflected in ex-farm prices, which declined 40 euros per ton to 318 euros per ton compared to the previous month. In fact, in some regions, especially those close to processing locations, rapeseed meal was available at less than 300 euros per ton. However, this price did not exactly encourage buyers to conclude longer-term supply contracts, because it was still 30 percent higher than a year earlier. The price for soybean meal hardly changed, with asking prices only around 0.8 percent lower than the previous month. This still translates to an almost 24 percent rise year-on-year. GMO-free soybean meal was very expensive because it was very scarce. Even at the wholesale level, asking prices were up just over 60 percent compared to a year earlier, although they most recently seemed to be on a weaker trend.