EU Grains Close

Posted by Nogger - a legend in his own mind at 20:27 | Categorized as

30/05/12 -- EU grains finished mostly lower with Jul 12 London wheat down GBP0.90/tonne to GBP173.10/tonne, and new crop Nov 12 falling GBP0.60/tonne to close at GBP155.15/tonne. Aug 12 Paris wheat was down EUR4.75/tonne to EUR2108.00/tonne, whilst Nov 12 was EUR0.75/tonne lower at EUR210.75/tonne.

Outside markets were very soft, contributing to today's weakness, with crude oil around USD3.00/barrel lower at the close of play in Europe, meaning that Brent has lost around 13% so far this month and NYMEX even more - in the region of 17% easier.

The Spanish stock market fell to its lowest levels in 9 years and borrowing costs there rose to around 6.5% on heightened banking concerns.

In a move akin to a vote of confidence from the board of directors for a Premiership football manager the Spanish PM insisted that they will definitely not need a Troika bailout - where have we heard that one before?

That's right, Ireland, Greece, Portugal....

The euro slumped to its worst against the US dollar since July 2010.

Asian millers say that they will switch from wheat to corn for animal feed for the first time in over a year. South Korea bought 346 TMT of corn today and Japan has bought 500 TMT of South American origin corn this month.

Rain in Ukraine has improved crop prospects there, whilst things are even looking up in Russia. The president of the Grain Union there said today that this year's wheat harvest will be roughly equal to last year at 56 MMT, despite drought pessimism. Wheat exports in 2012/12 meanwhile will reach 22-23 MMT, he said - well above the 18 MMT currently projected by the USDA.

Rains and cooler temperatures are in the forecast for the US Midwest today through to Friday. The USDA last night reported spring wheat crop conditions jumping five percentage points to 79% good/excellent.

After 6-10 days of warm and sunny weather, things are forecast to turn cooler and wetter across much of the UK by the second half of the long holiday weekend at the latest. Crops here are will appreciate that and are looking excellent.