Rapeseed extends 2026 headway, as wheat finds buyers too

Rapeseed prices extended their early-year rally, joining what has been a firm start for 2026 for commodities, with wheat finding buyers too, supported by black Sea tensions and dryness in the US southern Plains.

 

Rapeseed futures for May-26 added 1.4% in late deals in Paris to rise back above their 20-day moving average for the first time in a month, and take to 2.7% their headway so far in 2026.

 

The headway was supported by bargain buying encouraged by a recovery in prices of rapeseed oil, even though values of crude oil remain under pressure from ideas of a production surplus this year, which could be exacerbated if the change of regime in Venezuela leads to enhanced output from the South American oil major.

 

Brent crude prices remain close to five-year lows, even as values of commodities as a whole, as measured by the Bcom index, have risen by 3.0% so far this year near to two-year highs.

 

Precious metals have proved notably strong, amid concerns that the US capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro could herald other interference, stoking global instability.

 

Concerns over a re-escalation in Russia-Ukraine tensions spurred some headway in wheat prices, encouraging a return of risk premium. Russia on Monday launched five missile strikes against Ukraine’s Kharkiv region, damaging energy infrastructure, and attacked assets owned by US agricultural giant Bunge in Dnipro, in the south east of the country.

 

Wheat futures for March-26 added 0.3% in late morning deals in Chicago, while in Paris adding 0.8% before running into resistance at the €190/t mark.

 

Paris wheat, and rapeseed, futures found extra support from a further retreat in the euro, which shed 0.3% versus the dollar as signs of a December EU economic slowdown, and a fall in French inflation, suggested a lower course for interest rates than had been thought.

 

London feed wheat for November-26 traded 0.1% higher in late deals, after a 1.2% rise earlier in the session foundered on resistance around the 20-day moving average.

 

Also supporting wheat prices are concerns over dryness in the US southern Plains, which are underpinning in particular hard red winter wheat, as grown in the area. Hard red winter wheat futures for March-26 added 1.1% to take to 2.2% their 2026 gains.

 

Back in Chicago, soybean futures for March-26 traded up 0.2%, helped by reports of Chinese buying of US supplies, before the rally snagged at the contract’s 200-day moving average.

 

The USDA reported US export sales of 336Kt of soybeans to China for 2025/26, and market talk suggested that purchases this week have been larger still.

 

Some traders say that China has now bought nearly 10Mt of US soybeans since in October resuming purchases, although the total confirmed is less than 7Mt.

 

Corn futures for March-26 added 0.5%.