Nogger's Blog

04/02/11 -- EU wheat closed mixed, but mostly lower, with Mar London wheat down GBP1.00 to GBP205.00/tonne and new crop Nov GBP0.95 lower at GBP174.50/tonne. Mar Paris wheat fell EUR1.00 to EUR275.75/tonne, with Nov unchanged to EUR238.25/tonne.

On the week as a whole Mar London wheat was GBP1.75/tonne higher, with Nov rising GBP0.60/tonne. Across the Channel quality wheat fared much better, with Mar Paris wheat rising almost EUR10/tonne on the week, and new crop up almost EUR7.00/tonne.

Brussels issued soft wheat export licences of 346,000 MT this week, a 44% increase on last week. That brings the marketing year to date total 12.6 MMT - a 22% increase on this time last year.

The situation in Egypt seems to have eased slightly, which may mean that work at the ports may return to normal before long.

Bangladesh became the latest nation to say that the will step up the size of their wheat (and rice) purchases in the coming weeks and months, in an effort to maintain their food security.

All eyes will soon be on America and how it's wheat crop emerges from winter dormancy. The signs at this stage aren't very promising, with potentially a larger percentage than normal being given over to grazing or ripped up and replanted with something else come the spring.