Nogger's Blog

07/02/11 -- EU wheat closed higher again with Mar London wheat up GBP1.50 to GBP206.50/tonne and new crop Nov GBP3.00 higher at GBP177.50/tonne. Mar Paris wheat rose EUR3.00 to EUR277.75/tonne, with Nov up EUR3.50 to EUR241.75/tonne.

All contracts posted lifetime contract highs today, barring July 12 London wheat and August 12 Paris wheat.

Egypt passed on French wheat in it's weekend tender, booking a cargo each of Australian, Argentine and US grain. There are however plenty of other buyers kicking about with Algeria back in the market again this week. So too are Turkey, shopping for 300,000 MT, along with Bangladesh and Iraq.

Reports suggest that Iran might also be entering the market soon. So as you can see there isn't exactly a shortage of international buying interest around at the moment.

There are still concerns about what America's wheat crop is going to look like when it emerges from winter dormancy. Heavy snow is expected in US hard red winter wheat areas this week where moisture is badly needed, say Martell Crop Projections.

Meanwhile strong warming is on the cards for the North China Plain this week where wheat is coming out of dormancy, with highs topping 60 F. Moisture is badly needed soon here after cold and very dry winter, they add.

In Europe too winter crops are starting to think about breaking dormancy as the weather warms up. Central and northern parts of the UK got a welcome widespread soaking over the weekend after a fairly dry winter thus far.