Global supplies of oil seeds like corn, rapeseed and soybeans have been under a serious crunch lately due to the hot and dry weather conditions in the Latin American agricultural belt, which includes some of the biggest country exporters like Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay. The Financial Times noted that because of significantly lower yields, since the beginning of the year soybeans have gone up in value by 20 percent, reaching on Friday their highest price point for the last four years -- $15.09 for a bushel. Some commodity traders predict that soybean prices may even go up as high as $16-$17 a bushel, surpassing the record cost of $16.63 from 2008.
Canola prices last week reached their highest value since July 2008 -- C$665.90 per tonne. In Europe, rapeseed is sold at €514 per tonne, which is just two percent lower than the 2008 price peak. And in China, corn prices in March reached a new high – Rmb2,497 per tonne. This is a 10 percent increase on prices from the beginning of the year.
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