Analys
SEB – Jordbruksprodukter, vecka 3
Torkan i Argentina och södra Brasilien och effekten på soja- och majsskörden är i fokus i nyhetsflödet. Kanske är det eurokris-utmattning som gjort att Portugals nedgradering till ”skräp” passerat obemärkt förbi. Marknaden räknar med en 65% chans att landet går i konkurs inom fem år. Staten lånar nu till över 14.5% ränta, som vi ser i diagrammet nedan.
Kina rapporterade en tillväxt på låga 8.9%, vilket är närmast chockerande lågt när landet legat på 10% i nästan tio år. Samtidigt noterar vi att tillväxten på landsbygden i Kina ligger på 11% och att halva Kinas befolkning bor där. Kina är också ett land som rapporterar högre veteskörd för 2011, trots minskad areal. Mycket tyder på att Kina släppt på monetär stimulans under december och att detta – tillsammans med solid tillväxt på landsbygden, bidrar till att ge landet en mjuklandning. Den monetära stimulansen – att staten släpper på likviditet – brukar slå igenom med ett maximum av effekt efter ca 6 månader.
Vete
USA var stängt i måndags och det är ovanlig nyhetstorka. Det är relativt torrt i USA och det saknas snötäcke på sina håll. Det är också kallare än normalt, så utvintring kan möjligen bli ett tema framöver. Ukraina har samma situation. En uppgift finns om att så mycket som 35% av vetet skulle kunna vara i dåligt skick. Ryskt vete har snötäcke. Nederbörden i Europa har varit normal, utom i Spanien.
Lagren av vete är höga i världen och om det inte uppstår stora problem under våren borde vetet kunna falla från de här nivåerna.
Nedan ser vi kursdiagrammet för novemberkontraktet på Matif.
Nedan ser vi terminskurvan för Chicagovete och Matif nu och för en vecka sedan. De ”feta” kurvorna är de aktuella. De ”smala” är förra veckans. Det fortsätter att vara ”backwardation” på Matif, dvs terminspriserna för längre löptid är lägre än för korta. I USA är det däremot ”contango”, högre terminspriser ju längre ut i tiden man kommer. Det är lagringskostnaden som orsakar contangot.
Vi fortsätter att tro på en nedgång i vetepriset under året.
Maltkorn
Maltkornsmarknaden har behållit sin styrka relativt andra spannmål med novemberleverans på Matif på 246.25, upp från 242 euro per ton förra veckan.
Potatis
Priset på potatis har fortsatt att stiga, för leverans nästa år (av sommarens skörd), men uppgången har förlorat lite av sin kraft.
Majs
Förra året producerade Argentina 23 mt majs och inför sommaren (i Argentina) hade man hoppats kunna nå 28 – 29 mt. USDA förutspådde förra veckan att skörden blir 26 mt (en sänkning med 3 mt).
Maizar, som representerar majsodlarna i Argentina rapporterar att 20% av majssådden inte blev av och att 10% av det som såddes gått förlorat. Man kan så om och man kan så en andra gröda, safrinha, men om den blir för sen kan den skadas av tidig frost i mars och april. Oftast är det sojabönor man sår som andra gröda.
Det finns två väderleksprognoser för norra Argentina / södra Brasilien. En säger regn till helgen och sedan torrt igen. Den andra har mer generell nederbörd i prognosen.
Enligt en rapport från Global Weather Monitoring på onsdagseftermiddagen ska det regna 25 mm från 21 januari. Förra veckan regnade det 50 mm, efter att det varit torrt i 40 dagar. Nedan ser vi decemberkontraktet på CBOT, där priset just fallit ner från 600-cent-nivån.
Tekniskt ser det ut som om priset skulle kunna falla ner mot 500 cent, men 550 cent är ett starkt stöd, där det funnits starka köpintressen tidigare.
Sojabönor
Conab, som gör skördeprognoserna inom det brasilianska jordbruksdepartementet estimerar att landet kommer att bärga en skörd på 71.75 mt i år. Det är 4.7% mindre än förra året. Att det blir en så liten minskning trots torkan i Parana (15 mt normal produktion) i söder, beror på att det vuxit frodigt i den väldiga delstaten Mato Grosso (där det knappt finns någon skog kvar, bara till namnet). Privata analysfirmor i Brasilien, som t ex Agroconsult förutspår en nedgång på 2% totalt till 73.52 mt och AgRural väntar sig en skörd på 73.06 mt.
I Argentina sänkte USDA skörden förra veckan från 52 mt till 50.5 mt. Förra året skördades 49 mt soja, så det är ändå en uppgång. Jordbrukare i Argentina kan fortfarande så ”andrasojan”. I delstaten Cordoba, som vi skrev om förra veckan, och som är näst största producenten av majs, utlystes katastroftillstånd den här veckan. Det betyder att nödhjälp kan betalas ut till jordbrukarna. Hela landet Paraguay gjordet detsamma.
Tekniskt står priset och väger. Vädret håller på att förbättras i Sydamerika. Å andra sidan tyder det mesta på att Kina har startat monetär stimulans och det kan öka efterfrågan senare under året.
Enligt USDA kommer Brasilien att gå om USA som världens största exportör av sojabönor i år, året som slutar den 30 september 2012.
Raps
Priset på rapsfrö har varit förbluffande starkt på Matif. Tekniskt ser vi i diagrammet nedan att det finns en motståndslinje precis ovanför. Det skulle förvåna mycket om raps, som är mycket dyrare än kandensisk canola och sojabönor skule lyckas bryta upp över 420 euro per ton.
Nedan ser vi terminspriserna framåt i tiden för Matif raps, kanadensisk canola och för CBOT sojabönor, allt uttryckt i euro per metriskt ton.
I diagrammet nedan ser vi att rapsfrö är ovanligt dyrt i förhållande till kanadensisk canola (IJA=raps, RSA=canola).
Vi har en negativ vy på Matif raps.
Mjölk
Nedan ser vi priset på marskontraktet på flytande mjölk (kontant avräknat mot USDA:s prisindex). Marknaden stötte på säljare på 18 och priset föll tillbaka kraftigt ner till 17.21.
Gris
Priset på lean hogs rekylerade upp kraftigt de senaste dagarna, vilket gör att priset fortfarande ligger kvar i det breda prisintervall som etablerades redan under förra våren.
Priset i Europa har betett sig på samma sätt. Nedan ser vi det vid var tid kortaste terminskontraktet (närmast spot):
Nedan ser vi terminspriserna med förfall framåt i tiden. Amerikanska Lean Hogs-priserna är omräknade till euro per kilo. Vi ser att Lean Hogs ligger lägre i pris och att skillnaden är riktigt stor från oktober och framåt.
Valutor
EURSEK har helt naturligt noterat lägre priser och borde fortsätta att falla.
EURUSD är i en tydlig negativ trend.
USDSEK har en stigande trend och har nått upp till heltalet 7 kr per dollar, varifrån det återigen vänt ner. 7 kronor verkar vara ett starkt motstånd. Köpsignal torde vi ta på allvar om kursen noteras över 7.05 kr, väl över motståndsnivån.
Gödsel
Kväve
Nedan ser vi 1 månads terminspris på Urea fob Uyzhnyy. Priset har inte rört sig från den nivån den senaste veckan.
[box]SEB Veckobrev Jordbruksprodukter är producerat av SEB Merchant Banking och publiceras i samarbete och med tillstånd på Råvarumarknaden.se[/box]
Disclaimer
The information in this document has been compiled by SEB Merchant Banking, a division within Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB (publ) (“SEB”).
Opinions contained in this report represent the bank’s present opinion only and are subject to change without notice. All information contained in this report has been compiled in good faith from sources believed to be reliable. However, no representation or warranty, expressed or implied, is made with respect to the completeness or accuracy of its contents and the information is not to be relied upon as authoritative. Anyone considering taking actions based upon the content of this document is urged to base his or her investment decisions upon such investigations as he or she deems necessary. This document is being provided as information only, and no specific actions are being solicited as a result of it; to the extent permitted by law, no liability whatsoever is accepted for any direct or consequential loss arising from use of this document or its contents.
About SEB
SEB is a public company incorporated in Stockholm, Sweden, with limited liability. It is a participant at major Nordic and other European Regulated Markets and Multilateral Trading Facilities (as well as some non-European equivalent markets) for trading in financial instruments, such as markets operated by NASDAQ OMX, NYSE Euronext, London Stock Exchange, Deutsche Börse, Swiss Exchanges, Turquoise and Chi-X. SEB is authorized and regulated by Finansinspektionen in Sweden; it is authorized and subject to limited regulation by the Financial Services Authority for the conduct of designated investment business in the UK, and is subject to the provisions of relevant regulators in all other jurisdictions where SEB conducts operations. SEB Merchant Banking. All rights reserved.
Analys
Very relaxed at USD 75/b. Risk barometer will likely fluctuate to higher levels with Brent into the 80ies or higher coming 2-3 weeks

Brent rallied 12% last week. But closed the week below USD 75/b and it is still there. Very relaxed. Brent crude rallied 12% to USD 78.5/b in the early hours of Friday as Israel attacked Iran. The highest level since 27 January this year. The level didn’t hold and Brent closed the day at USD 74.23/b which was up 5.7% on the day and 11.7% on the week. On Friday it was still very unclear how extensive and lasting this war between Iran and Israel would be. Energy assets in Iran had still not been touched and Iran had not targeted other Middle East countries’ energy assets or US military bases in the region. As such, the Brent crude closed the week comfortably at around USD 75/b. Which one cannot argue is very much of a stressed price level.

Israel is targeting Iran’s domestic energy infrastructure. Not its energy export facilities. For now. Over the weekend Israel has widened its targets to include fuel depots in Tehran, refineries supplying Iran domestically and also a processing plant at Iran’s South Pars gas field – the world’s largest. So far it appears that Israel has refrained from hurting Iranian oil and gas export facilities. Maybe adhering to Trump’s whish of low oil prices. Trump has been begging for a lower oil price. Would be very frustrating for him if Israel started to blow up Iran’s export facilities. Focus instead looks to be on Iran’s domestic energy supply and infrastructure. To weaken and disable the operations of Iran as a country while leaving Iran’s energy export facilities intact for now at least. That is probably why Brent crude this morning is only trading at USD 74.9/b with little change from Friday. An incredible relaxed price level given what is going on in the Middle East.
Israel seems to try to do to Iran what Israel recently did to Lebanon. Israel now seems to have close to total control of the Iranian air space. So called ”Air Supremacy” something which is rarely achieved according to Phillips P. O’Brian (see comment on this below with link). This is giving Israel close to total freedom in the airspace over Iran. Israel now seems to try to do to Iran what Israel recently did to Lebanon. Take out military and political commanders. Take out the air defenses. Then grind the rest of its defensive capacities to the ground over some time.
Continuous pressure. No rest. No letting up for several weeks seems likely. The current situation is a very rare opportunity for Israel to attack Iran with full force. Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, Iranian strongholds in Syria, are all severely weakened or disabled. And now also Air Supremacy of the airspace over Iran. It is natural to assume that Israel will not let this opportunity pass. As such it will likely continue with full force over several weeks to come, at least, with Israel grinding down the rest of Iran’s defensive capabilities and domestic energy supply facilities as far as possible. Continuous pressure. No rest. No letting up.
What to do with Fordow? Will Iran jump to weapons grade uranium? The big question is of course Iran’s nuclear facilities. Natanz with 16,000 enrichment centrifuges was destroyed by Israel on Friday. It was only maximum 20 meters below ground. It was where Iran had mass enrichment to low enrichment levels. Fordow is a completely different thing. It is 500 meters deep under a mountain. It is where enrichment towards weapons grade Uranium takes place. Iran today has 408 kg of highly enriched uranium (IAEA) which can be enriched to weapons grade. It is assumed that Iran will only need 2-3 days to make 25 kg of weapons grade uranium and three weeks to make enough for 9 nuclear warheads. How Israel decides to deal with Fordow is the big question. Ground forces? Help from the US?
Also, if Iran is pushed to the end of the line, then it might decide to enrich to weapons grade which again will lead to a cascade of consequences.
Brent is extremely relaxed at USD 75/b. But at times over coming 2-3 weeks the risk barometer will likely move higher with Brent moving into the 80ies or higher. The oil price today is extremely relaxed with the whole thing. Lots of OPEC+ spare capacity allows loss of Iranian oil exports. Israeli focus on Iran’s domestic energy systems rather than on its exports facilities is also soothing the market. But at times over the coming two, three weeks the risk barometer will likely move significantly higher as it might seem like the situation in the Middle East may move out of control. So Brent into the 80ies or higher seems highly likely in the weeks to come. At times at least. And if it all falls apart, the oil price will of course move well above 100.
Phillips P. OBrien on ”Air Supremacy” (embedded link): Air power historian Philip Meilinger: ”Air Superiority is defined as being able to conduct air operations “without prohibitive interference by the opposing force.” Air Supremacy goes further, wherein the opposing air force is incapable of effective interference.”
Thus, air supremacy is an entirely different beast from air superiority. It occurs when one power basically controls the skies over an enemy, and can operate practically anywhere/time that it wants without much fear of enemy interference in its operations.
The US had Air Supremacy over Germany in the second World War, but only at the very end when it was close to over. It only had Air Superiority in the Vietnam war, but not Supremacy. During Desert Storm in 1990-1991 however it did have Supremacy with devastating consequences for the enemy. (last paragraph is a condensed summary).
Analys
Brent needs to fall to USD 58/b to make cheating unprofitable for Kazakhstan

Brent jumping 2.4% as OPEC+ lifts quota by ”only” 411 kb/d in July. Brent crude is jumping 2.4% this morning to USD 64.3/b following the decision by OPEC+ this weekend to lift the production cap of ”Voluntary 8” (V8) by 411 kb/d in July and not more as was feared going into the weekend. The motivation for the triple hikes of 411 kb/d in May and June and now also in July has been a bit unclear: 1) Cheating by Kazakhstan and Iraq, 2) Muhammed bin Salman listening to Donald Trump for more oil and a lower oil price in exchange for weapons deals and political alignments in the Middle East and lastly 3) Higher supply to meet higher demand for oil this summer. The argument that they are taking back market share was already decided in the original plan of unwinding the 2.2 mb/d of V8 voluntary cuts by the end of 2026. The surprise has been the unexpected speed with monthly increases of 3×137 kb/d/mth rather than just 137 kb/d monthly steps.

No surplus yet. Time-spreads tightened last week. US inventories fell the week before last. In support of point 3) above it is worth noting that the Brent crude oil front-end backwardation strengthened last week (sign of tightness) even when the market was fearing for a production hike of more than 411 kb/d for July. US crude, diesel and gasoline stocks fell the week before last with overall commercial stocks falling 0.7 mb versus a normal rise this time of year of 3-6 mb per week. So surplus is not here yet. And more oil from OPEC+ is welcomed by consumers.
Saudi Arabia calling the shots with Russia objecting. This weekend however we got to know a little bit more. Saudi Arabia was predominantly calling the shots and decided the outcome. Russia together with Oman and Algeria opposed the hike in July and instead argued for zero increase. What this alures to in our view is that it is probably the cheating by Kazakhstan and Iraq which is at the heart of the unexpectedly fast monthly increases. Saudi Arabia cannot allow it to be profitable for the individual members to cheat. And especially so when Kazakhstan explicitly and blatantly rejects its quota obligation stating that they have no plans of cutting production from 1.77 mb/d to 1.47 mb/d. And when not even Russia is able to whip Kazakhstan into line, then the whole V8 project is kind of over.
Is it simply a decision by Saudi Arabia to unwind faster altogether? What is still puzzling though is that despite the three monthly hikes of 411 kb/d, the revival of the 2.2 mb/d of voluntary production cuts is still kind of orderly. Saudi Arabia could have just abandoned the whole V8 project from one month to the next. But we have seen no explicit communication that the plan of reviving the cuts by the end of 2026 has been abandoned. It may be that it is simply a general change of mind by Saudi Arabia where the new view is that production cuts altogether needs to be unwinded sooner rather than later. For Saudi Arabia it means getting its production back up to 10 mb/d. That implies first unwinding the 2.2 mb/d and then the next 1.6 mb/d.
Brent would likely crash with a fast unwind of 2.2 + 1.6 mb/d by year end. If Saudi Arabia has decided on a fast unwind it would meant that the group would lift the quotas by 411 kb/d both in August and in September. It would then basically be done with the 2.2 mb/d revival. Thereafter directly embark on reviving the remaining 1.6 mb/d. That would imply a very sad end of the year for the oil price. It would then probably crash in Q4-25. But it is far from clear that this is where we are heading.
Brent needs to fall to USD 58/b or lower to make it unprofitable for Kazakhstan to cheat. To make it unprofitable for Kazakhstan to cheat. Kazakhstan is currently producing 1.77 mb/d versus its quota which before the hikes stood at 1.47 kb/d. If they had cut back to the quota level they might have gotten USD 70/b or USD 103/day. Instead they choose to keep production at 1.77 mb/d. For Saudi Arabia to make it a loss-making business for Kazakhstan to cheat the oil price needs to fall below USD 58/b ( 103/1.77).
Analys
All eyes on OPEC V8 and their July quota decision on Saturday

Tariffs or no tariffs played ping pong with Brent crude yesterday. Brent crude traded to a joyous high of USD 66.13/b yesterday as a US court rejected Trump’s tariffs. Though that ruling was later overturned again with Brent closing down 1.2% on the day to USD 64.15/b.

US commercial oil inventories fell 0.7 mb last week versus a seasonal normal rise of 3-6 mb. US commercial crude and product stocks fell 0.7 mb last week which is fairly bullish since the seasonal normal is for a rise of 4.3 mb. US crude stocks fell 2.8 mb, Distillates fell 0.7 mb and Gasoline stocks fell 2.4 mb.
All eyes are now on OPEC V8 (Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait, UAE, Algeria, Russia, Oman, Kazakhstan) which will make a decision tomorrow on what to do with production for July. Overall they are in a process of placing 2.2 mb/d of cuts back into the market over a period stretching out to December 2026. Following an expected hike of 137 kb/d in April they surprised the market by lifting production targets by 411 kb/d for May and then an additional 411 kb/d again for June. It is widely expected that the group will decide to lift production targets by another 411 kb/d also for July. That is probably mostly priced in the market. As such it will probably not have all that much of a bearish bearish price impact on Monday if they do.
It is still a bit unclear what is going on and why they are lifting production so rapidly rather than at a very gradual pace towards the end of 2026. One argument is that the oil is needed in the market as Middle East demand rises sharply in summertime. Another is that the group is partially listening to Donald Trump which has called for more oil and a lower price. The last is that Saudi Arabia is angry with Kazakhstan which has produced 300 kb/d more than its quota with no indications that they will adhere to their quota.
So far we have heard no explicit signal from the group that they have abandoned the plan of measured increases with monthly assessments so that the 2.2 mb/d is fully back in the market by the end of 2026. If the V8 group continues to lift quotas by 411 kb/d every month they will have revived the production by the full 2.2 mb/d already in September this year. There are clearly some expectations in the market that this is indeed what they actually will do. But this is far from given. Thus any verbal wrapping around the decision for July quotas on Saturday will be very important and can have a significant impact on the oil price. So far they have been tightlipped beyond what they will do beyond the month in question and have said nothing about abandoning the ”gradually towards the end of 2026” plan. It is thus a good chance that they will ease back on the hikes come August, maybe do no changes for a couple of months or even cut the quotas back a little if needed.
Significant OPEC+ spare capacity will be placed back into the market over the coming 1-2 years. What we do know though is that OPEC+ as a whole as well as the V8 subgroup specifically have significant spare capacity at hand which will be placed back into the market over the coming year or two or three. Probably an increase of around 3.0 – 3.5 mb/d. There is only two ways to get it back into the market. The oil price must be sufficiently low so that 1) Demand growth is stronger and 2) US shale oil backs off. In combo allowing the spare capacity back into the market.
Low global inventories stands ready to soak up 200-300 mb of oil. What will cushion the downside for the oil price for a while over the coming year is that current, global oil inventories are low and stand ready to soak up surplus production to the tune of 200-300 mb.
-
Analys4 veckor sedan
Brent steady at $65 ahead of OPEC+ and Iran outcomes
-
Nyheter3 veckor sedan
USA slår nytt produktionsrekord av naturgas
-
Analys3 veckor sedan
All eyes on OPEC V8 and their July quota decision on Saturday
-
Analys4 veckor sedan
A shift to surplus will likely drive Brent towards the 60-line and the high 50ies
-
Nyheter2 veckor sedan
Brookfield ska bygga ett AI-datacenter på hela 750 MW i Strängnäs
-
Nyheter2 veckor sedan
Stor uppsida i Lappland Guldprospekterings aktie enligt analys
-
Nyheter3 veckor sedan
Sommaren inleds med sol och varierande elpriser
-
Nyheter3 veckor sedan
OPEC+ ökar oljeproduktionen trots fallande priser