Orion Farming Group Weekly Straights Update: 30th April 2026
- Orion Farming Group
- Apr 30
- 3 min read
The figures in the charts are an indication only and reflect levels traded on Wednesday.
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A quieter week for prices.
US planting is progressing well, whilst the Argentinian harvest reaches 10% complete but delays continue due to the wet ground.
The late rains have improved early yield reports and the crop estimate is now 48.6MMT.
Soybean futures have been rangebound for a while as traders await further certainty on US production, also indications of Chinese demands ahead of the meeting with the US in mid-May.
Crush margins for soya remain good due to the stronger bean oil market.
A mixed week of news as most of it was dominated by a volatile European market as traders began pricing in tight supply for May/Jul, as there was still no news from Erith.
This was further supported by ADM being in the market for immediate shipments and any material they could lay their hands on within the UK.
However, Friday brought news that Erith has been given permission by the HSE to restart crushing operations with immediate effect.
They planned to begin over the weekend with the first loads in and out on Wednesday if all went to plan.
This should ease off some of the nearby tightness, (subject to a successful restart!), but expect prices to stay a premium for old crop as there is still a lack of availability across the UK and Europe until new crop in August and Erith have a lot of owed tonnage on old contracts.
There seems to be a good opportunity to put on some summer and next winter cover, with next winter prices looking keen, especially considering that Sugarbeet is likely to remain tight into next season and so it’s unlikely to compete on price.
With Ensus now back running for the next couple of months nearby tightness has improved, but pricing remains fairly steady, as this additional supply seems to have been absorbed easily by the market given the lack of rapemeal.
Minimal offers for the summer and next winter, but any prices mentioned are £280 - £290’s which looks very dear against hulls.
Home produced prices for next winter looks unlikely to be much improved from this year, as acreage is down.
A firmer week for futures despite the lack of meaningful news from the Middle East, but fundamentally the market is being supported by drought conditions in the US – 70% of their winter wheat is now in drought condition.
Black Sea exports remain competitive, keeping a cap on prices.
Additionally, there is still some speculation around future global acreages, due to increased costs.
Barley availability remains tighter in the UK, due to the strong winter demand.
And finally, totally irrelevant but quite interesting facts of the week…….When it rains heavily in the Sumatran rainforests, there is a corresponding drought in East Africa, 3,700 miles away and the first recorded soup dates from 10,000 BC, the first beer from 7,000 BC and the first tortillas from 6,000 BC.
Notes:
All figures in this report are provided by KW and commentary by GLW Feeds. Price indications are based on 29t bulk tipped loads delivered to Oxfordshire and are guide prices only.
For firm prices and availability, please contact Joe Cobb on 01865 393 139
Currency Trends as of 30.04.26 Blue = GBP:USD. Red = GBP:EUR
