EU Wheat Close

Posted by Nogger - a legend in his own mind at 18:29 | Categorized as

30/12/10 -- EU wheat closed unchanged to mostly lower Thursday with Jan London wheat down GBP1.50 to GBP197.85/tonne, and new crop Nov GBP0.50 lower at GBP169.50/tonne. Jan Paris wheat fell EUR4.50 to EUR248.00/tonne and Nov declined EUR3.75 to EUR220.50/tonne.

Profit-taking ahead of the year end probably had a lot to do with it as fundamentally nothing that much has changed.

The pound slipped below 1.16 against the euro, underpinning UK wheat on the export stage. Not that we need any more export business. In the North East "Ensus Corridor" ex farm feed wheat prices are now running close to parity with London futures levels I hear.

It is probably only a matter of time before start importing.

Chicago wheat opened lower and continued to decline towards the end of the European session, pressuring prices lower this side of the pond.

The Buenos Aires Grain Exchange upped it's estimate for wheat production there by 1 MMT to 14.5 MMT, with harvesting around three quarters done. That would be getting on for almost double last year's output of 7.5 MMT.

On the US High Plains "a 1,500 mile stretch of most of the nation’s HRW crop has seen less than 0.50 inch of precipitation this month and a lack of protective snow cover too," according to QT Weather.

December has been abnormally dry and there is little relief ahead as continuing dryness is maintained in this strong La Nina pattern, they add.