EU Wheat Closing Comments Friday

EU wheat futures closed mixed Friday with January Paris milling up EUR0.25 at EUR132.00/tonne, and London May feed wheat down GBP0.55 at GBP111.45/tonne.

EU wheat was under pressure from a strong euro and sterling, or was it just a weak dollar?

The trade seemed to accept Egypt buying 295,000 MT of wheat off the Russians Thursday as almost inevitable. A bit like England losing to Brazil, you pretty much know it's going to happen, but a small optimistic part of you thinks that you might get a look in.

At least EU wheat was partially successful in Egypt's previous tender, US wheat hasn't got a look in for more than two months.

In the UK the long-awaited firing up of the Ensus bioethanol plant on Teesside seems to be finally nearing, with a trial run over the Christmas period leading to some sort of decent running schedule commecing in January. At least that's the story I am hearing.

That's particularly significant since Defra's recent estimate of a UK exportable surplus of just over 2 MMT in 2009/10 inexplicably took no account whatsoever for any usage from the bioethanol sector at all.

Well done Defra, reliable as ever.