Snippets

The Baltic Dry Index continues to decline, closing at 2216 last night, down 64 points, or 2.8%. That brings the total number of days of consecutive declines now to 28, marking a near 2000 point decline since a 6th May high of 4209. This is the longest unbroken run of declines since 2005.

According to Elena Skrynnik, the Russian Minister of Agriculture, despite a drought hit harvest likely in 2010 carry-over grain stocks of 24 MMT mean that they can still expect to export 20 MMT of grains in 2010/11.

Ukraine had harvested 1.77 MMT of grains by July 5th, according to the Ag Ministry. Average yields are currently running at 2.46 MT per hectare, versus 2.54 MT per hectare this time last year, they say. Barley accounts for 1.5 MMT of the harvest so far, with the remainder of the grain harvest to date mostly wheat (240,000 MT).

The country has also harvested 271,000 MT of rapeseed from an area of 194,000 hectares at an average yield of 1.4 MT per hectare, they add.

Robert Wiseman Dairies is the latest in a line of buyers to increase their milk price with effect from July 1st. The 0.4 pence per litre increase takes the company's UK farmgate price to 24.72ppl.