Rapeseed rose nearly 3% to E334.00 a tonne for August delivery, a contract high, and the best price for a near-term lot for 19 months.
The better-traded November lot notched up similar records by touching E338.75 a tonne.
The rises reflected the impact of Canada’s sodden spring – which the Canadian Wheat Board estimates will leave up to 12.5m acres of cropland in the west of the country unsown on hopes for production of canola, the rapeseed variant.
Furthermore, the harvest in Ukraine, a key exporter to the European Union, has been dented by winterkill.
“There are problems in Canada, there are problems in Ukraine, and prices of these are higher once you have got them into the EU,” David Sheppard at UK grain merchant Gleadell said.
“Therefore, our market probably has to go up a bit.”
Crushers’ needs
At Macquarie Securities, the investment bank, commodities analyst Alex Bos said that the rise in Paris rapeseed prices was “definitely a spillover from Canada’s canola situation”, which looked set in particular to hit exports.
“Canada’s canola crushers have expended crushing capacity, and to keep those plants running they need to buy enough in the domestic market,” Mr Bos told Agrimoney.com.
“That will limit export availability.”
Canada’s farm ministry last month estimated domestic canola use jumping by 21% to nearly 6m tonnes in 2010-11, with exports falling 7.1% to 6.5m tonnes. The ministry will unveil fresh data later this month.
Global impact
A slide in exports is unlikely to have a direct impact on Europe, which operates strict curbs on biotech crops, which comprise the great majority of Canada’s canola/rapeseed harvest.
However, it would encourage other importers to raise their rapeseed prices, so lifting the whole market.
“The real danger for Europe is if higher world prices take Ukrainian exports away from Europe to another market,” Mr Bos said.
Paris’s August rapeseed contract closed up E3.00 at E327.75 a tonne, with the November lot ending E2.75 higher at E332.50 a tonne.
In Winnipeg, canola for July delivery stood 2.6% higher at Can$426.90 a tonne at 17:30 GMT, its highest since August last year, and setting course for an eighth successive day of gains.
Source: http://www.agrimoney.com/news/canada-woes-send-paris-rapeseed-to-19-month-high–1857.html
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