EU Wheat Rises As Egypt Buys From France

Posted by Nogger - a legend in his own mind at 08:36 | Categorized as

20/11/14 -- EU grains closed mostly higher, supported by Egypt's GASC buying French wheat in a tender, even if it was only one cargo.

At the finish Nov 14 London wheat was up GBP1.40/tonne at GBP123.40/tonne, Jan 15 Paris wheat was EUR2.25/tonne higher at EUR174.75/tonne, Jan 15 Paris corn was EUR2.75/tonne firmer at EUR151.75/tonne, whilst Feb 15 Paris rapeseed rose EUR1.25/tonne to EUR337.75/tonne.

Egypt bought 60,000 MT of French wheat from Soufflet at $259.87/tonne including freight for Dec 21-31 shipment. The price was a little higher than the average $258.34/tonne paid in their last tender, although that was for a slightly better shipment period.

The purchase takes the total volume of wheat GASC have bought on the international arena for the 2014/15 shipment period to more than 2 MMT. That's still a far cry from the almost 5.5 MMT that they bought in 2013/14.

The world's largest wheat buyer recently stated that they had enough wheat bought to almost see them through to the start of their own domestic harvest in March. The Egyptian government pay way over current world wheat price levels to local producers in an effort to ensure increased domestic production.

This would seem to indicate that their international purchases may fall significantly in 2014/15 - which is after all the government's stated aim. Lack of credit is also an issue for them.

Elsewhere, Saudi Arabia are in the market tendering for 330,000 MT of 12.5% milling wheat for Feb/Mar shipment.

Israel bought 147,000 MT of optional origin corn (possibly Black Sea origin) for Jan/Apr shipment. They also cancelled a tender for 25,000 MT of optional origin wheat.

APK Inform estimated Ukraine’s 2014/15 wheat crop at 23.3 MMT, up 5% from a year ago, but more than 1MMT below the USDA's current forecast. They see this season's wheat exports however at 10.35 MMT versus the USDA estimate of 10.0 MMT. They also forecast Ukraine’s 2014/15 corn exports at 18.1 MMT versus a USDA estimate of 16.5 MMT.

The Ukraine Ag Ministry said that the country's 2014 grain harvest was now 97% done at 62 MMT.

MDA CropCast forecast the EU-28 wheat crop next year at 146.4 MMT, a 2 MMT reduction compared with their previous estimate and a 2.4% decrease on this year.