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Feed market update
from KW’s Colin Shepherd
The spot market continues to dominate feed buying activity this winter, with soyabean meal prices still around 290/t delivered, and the supply of many energy feeds limited with only one or two opportunities for a good deal.
For those wanting a moist feed or supply of digestible fibre-based energy, pressed pulp and sugar beet feed are the only options readily available at present. For starch, cereals may be trading at around £108/t at the time of writing, but maize meal is unavailable and both processed bread and wheatfeed are in short supply.
It means that wheat remains a reasonable buy, particularly if bought as caustic soda-treated SodaWheat to allow higher inclusions without running into acidosis problems. For the summer, wheatfeed is available on forward contract, and at a good price, so might be worth considering to ensure at least some cover in case cereal prices rise further.
Proteins have eased since the last USDA report, however they remain expensive, with soyabean meal supplies tight and the South American soyabean harvest yet to start. Rapemeal is also very scarce throughout January and February, forcing prices to rise sharply in recent weeks to around £180/t delivered.
The markets don’t yet appear to have taken full account of the potentially large soyabean crops about to be harvested in South America. Any significant increase in supplies of soya bean meal could see further selling by the fund managers that have recently been buying heavily into the commodity markets, possibly creating a real opportunity to buy forward.
Watch the markets carefully during the coming weeks. |
