EU Grains Close

Posted by Nogger - a legend in his own mind at 19:37 | Categorized as

13/04/11 -- May London wheat closed GBP1.50/tonne higher at GBP210.00/tonne with new crop Nov down GBP0.85 to GBP166.90/tonne. May Paris wheat was unchanged at EUR240.25/tonne whilst Nov was up EUR0.25/tonne to EUR208.75/tonne.

May London wheat closed within GBP0.25/tonne of the highest ever close for a front month. With July closing at GBP206.90/tonne we now have an unusual front-end premium of over GBP3.00/tonne. We also have a large GBP40.00/tonne differential between old crop July and new crop November.

We also have a state of play where May London feed wheat is less than EUR4.00/tonne cheaper than it's Parisian milling wheat counterpart.

Whilst London wheat continues to paddle it's own canoe, other UK feed raw materials are showing distinct signs of weakness, with Erith rapemeal today trading at less than GBP160.00/tonne. A significant saving for a by-product containing more than three times the protein content of wheat.

There's some trade talk around that Russia may be set to lift it's export embargo sooner than anticipated, possibly as early as June. That would delight local growers and merchants as the ban on foreign sales has depressed Russian wheat prices to levels far below those available externally on the international stage.

With 2011 grain plantings running behind schedule due to the late arrival of spring, it seems rather unlikely to me, but that is what is being bandied about.