EU Wheat Closing Comments
May London wheat closed GBP1.55 higher at GBP104.00/tonne, although November was GBP0.65 lower at GBP105.10/tonne. November Paris wheat closed EUR0.25 firmer at EUR140.25/tonne.
Both the pound and euro continue to remain under pressure, with the latter sinking to it's lowest levels since late 2008 against the dollar today. That will help to underpin prices here.
Algeria reportedly bought 500,000 MT of French wheat for June/July, aided by the weakness of the single currency.
With only seven weeks of the 2009/10 marketing year to go the EU has issued soft wheat export licenses for 15.4 MMT, compared to 18.8 MMT a year ago. Wheat imports however stand at 2.86 MMT versus 5.52 MMT in 2008/09.
Many EU countries were closed yesterday for Ascension Day, which contributed to light trade also today.
Crop conditions in northern and western Europe look OK, but generally nothing more than that, whereas things look mostly pretty good in the east and south of the region.
It is worth noting that the places where things are only looking OK include France, Germany, Poland and the UK. These account for Europe's top four rapeseed and wheat producing countries and three of the top four barley growers.
A German Agribusiness Report for Q2 2010 says that "grain production in Germany now looks set for a poor year in 2010. Cold, wet weather over the winter will likely see yields of both wheat and barley fall."
Both the pound and euro continue to remain under pressure, with the latter sinking to it's lowest levels since late 2008 against the dollar today. That will help to underpin prices here.
Algeria reportedly bought 500,000 MT of French wheat for June/July, aided by the weakness of the single currency.
With only seven weeks of the 2009/10 marketing year to go the EU has issued soft wheat export licenses for 15.4 MMT, compared to 18.8 MMT a year ago. Wheat imports however stand at 2.86 MMT versus 5.52 MMT in 2008/09.
Many EU countries were closed yesterday for Ascension Day, which contributed to light trade also today.
Crop conditions in northern and western Europe look OK, but generally nothing more than that, whereas things look mostly pretty good in the east and south of the region.
It is worth noting that the places where things are only looking OK include France, Germany, Poland and the UK. These account for Europe's top four rapeseed and wheat producing countries and three of the top four barley growers.
A German Agribusiness Report for Q2 2010 says that "grain production in Germany now looks set for a poor year in 2010. Cold, wet weather over the winter will likely see yields of both wheat and barley fall."
