EU Wheat Close
04/07/11 -- EU grains finished higher with Nov London wheat up GBP2.00 to GBP162.50/tonne and with May also climbing GBP2.00/tonne to GBP170.00/tonne. Nov Paris wheat rose EUR5.25/tonne to EUR193.00/tonne whilst May12 climbed EUR4.25/tonne to EUR198.75/tonne.It was a relatively low volume day with US markets closed for the Independence Day holiday.
Recent rains in Ukraine are said to have improved spring grain potential there significantly, although the winter grain harvest has stalled on the back of it.
Russia said that it had exported more than a million tonnes of grain on the first day of the newly reopened export window on Friday. Exporters are also said to have significant volumes lined up for shipment in the coming weeks.
The UK barley harvest advanced over the weekend as the weather remained fine over much of the country. Harvesting in France is ongoing, with results continuing to come in highly variable.
Budget cuts have led to Egypt's new temporary military regime saying that the country will import 2 MMT less wheat than previously expected in 2011/12. Algeria bought 150,000 MT of optional origin feed barley over the weekend.
Copa Cogeca peg the EU-27 soft wheat crop at 122.18 MMT, 2.9% down on last year, with the all wheat crop coming in a fraction under 130 MMT. Maize production is seen up 9% to 60.37 MMT and barley output down 4.4% to 50.41 MMT. Total grain production in the EU-27 is seen falling less than one percentage point to 272 MMT.
