EU Wheat Report - Friday

EU wheat futures closed the week quite strongly with Paris March milling wheat closing up EUR4 at EUR149/tonne and London May feed wheat ending up GBP2.75 at GBP115/tonne.

Spillover strength from a sharply higher Chicago market, and a late strengthening of the dollar after US jobless numbers came in better than feared helped futures close at or near session highs.

Very cold temperatures in Eastern Europe this week have led to rumours of winter kill. A similar situation could be replicated in the US next week, where temperatures of 10 to 20 degrees below zero are forecast dominate the Midwest.

News that Frontier are about to load 50,000mt UK feed wheat in Southanpton next week destined for China also added a bit of enthusiasm. Still, with an exportable surplus of around 3.8mmt, we need all the export homes we can get.

The plunging winter temperatures and congestion at some ports are reported to be causing logistical problems for the Black Sea countries. This may also provide a short-term opportunity for the likes of the UK, France and Germany.

US wheat plantings are expected to come in 4-5% lower when the USDA issues it's first estimate for the 2009/10 season on Monday afternoon.