EU Grains Close

Posted by Nogger - a legend in his own mind at 19:00 | Categorized as

18/04/11 -- EU grains closed higher across the board with May London wheat up GBP5.50/tonne to GBP212.50/tonne and with new crop Nov rising GBP6.25/tonne to GBP170.75/tonne. May Paris wheat rose EUR7.75/tonne to EUR246.00/tonne and Nov was EUR9.00/tonne higher to EUR217.00/tonne.

Tonight's close was a new record high for a front month for London wheat, and also say the May contract get within GBP1.50/tonne of the lifetime contract high.

A warm and dry weekend, with a forecast for more of the same for the remainder of the week for western Europe set the tone.

"Very low rainfall has occurred in western and northern Europe during the past 6 weeks. Warmth is keeping evaporation elevated, although wheat is holding up better than barley and rapeseed in the super-dry areas. The forecast is not hopeful for soaking rain this week either, with just a few scattered showers possible, warmth should also persist. The Eastern Europe forecast is better, calling for moderate rain for Poland, Romania, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary late in week," say Martell Crop Projections.

Meanwhile in the US weekend rains in the top HRW wheat producing state of Kansas were a bit disappointing and further north the Northern Plains and Canadian Prairies are wet and cold preventing timely spring plantings.

"North Dakota producers already anticipated a 2-week delay in fieldwork with a projected starting date April 25. That date will now be pushed back further. Similar wet and cold field conditions exist in Alberta, Canada's top canola province and second leading spring wheat producer," they add.