UK oilseeds fluctuate at £450/t due to currency movements

A stronger pound against the US dollar has reduced the relative cost of imports coming into the UK, with most commodities traded globally in dollars.

Sterling has rallied against the dollar since the start of 2025 and the exchange rate stood at £1 to $1.33 on 23 April.

This is generally good news for farm inputs such as fuel and fertiliser, but with the UK being a net importer of oilseeds this year, it also means that domestic growers are having to compete with comparatively cheaper imports.

See also: Fertiliser shortage hits farms as spring demand picks up

However, sterling has dropped in value compared to the Euro during the first four months of the year, which has partially offset this, and overall traders say currency fluctuations have been supporting UK values.

Paris rapeseed futures, which serve as a benchmark for UK oilseeds prices, peaked at almost €555/t (£475/t) on 16 April for the May contract, but has since eased back slightly as the contract nears completion.

Ex-farm prices collected by Farmers Weekly put oilseed rape at £448/t on 23 April, up by £28/t since the start of the year.

Peter Collier, area manager at United Oilseeds, says currency movements have had a big impact on the domestic rapeseed market, and we should not underestimate how much of an influence the pound falling in relation to the Euro has had on trade.

He said: “The domestic market has been really quite tight this year, so we have had mills having to guarantee and buy as much domestic supply as possible, which has kept UK pricing really quite strong against the Continent.

Mr Collier added that volumes being sold on farm were relatively low towards the end of the season, with the bulk of sales already done.

“I would imagine that a lot of the domestic crushers are quite well covered for the rest of the year, to get past this volatile period.”

Looking forward, he said merchants would continue to monitor the impact on tariffs and the trade war between the US and China.

Traders at ADM matched this sentiment and suggested that the key focus areas for markets would be trade flows to China, which could disrupt the EU supply and demand balance and tighten the outlook for new crop.

Lower oil prices have been weighing on global oilseeds markets, with Brent crude oil values trading at $68.3 (£51) a barrel on 23 April, falling by 9% since the start of the month.

Crop conditions

The AHDB has forecast UK rapeseed production for 2025 to be anywhere between 643,000-912,000t, depending on yields.

Improved weather conditions so far this spring have helped plantings to progress, with the latest crop development report determining that 57% of winter oilseed rape was in good to excellent condition at the end of March.

The EU’s Mars crop bulletin suggested that yield prospects in Southern Europe appear to be improving following an abundance of rainfall, however, drier conditions in central and northern Europe has raised concerns for both winter and spring crops.

Meanwhile, the rapeseed area in France is forecast to be up by 7% on the five year average at 1.29m hectares, according to the French Ministry of Agriculture.