EU Wheat Down Again, But Ends Near Session Highs

Posted by Nogger - a legend in his own mind at 08:58 | Categorized as

04/12/14 -- EU grains closed lower, although well off session lows. London wheat actually finished at, or close to, the highs of the day.

At the finish Jan 15 London wheat was down GBP1.90/tonne at GBP130.00/tonne, Jan 15 Paris wheat fell EUR0.75/tonne to EUR186.25/tonne, Jan 15 Paris corn was EUR1.00/tonne easier at EUR154.50/tonne, whilst Feb 15 Paris rapeseed was down EUR0.50/tonne to EUR336.75/tonne.

APK Inform said that Russian ministers didn't even discuss the possibility of imposing any kind of grain export limitations at yesterday's government meeting.

They did however apparently say that they will continue to monitor the situation in the grain markets and offer state-owned stocks onto the market if required.

The Russian government's intervention purchase program began on Sep 30, but has only managed to procure 268,495 MT of grain so far this season.

Meanwhile, other reports suggest that at least one Egypt bound vessel has been stuck at Russia's Novorossiysk port for a couple of weeks waiting for the necessary phytosanitary certificate before it can sail.

In other news, MDA CropCast cut their forecast for the world wheat crop in 2015/16 by 1.1 MMT from a week ago to 718.5 MMT, mainly due to reductions in Canada.

For Russia, they predict a wheat crop of 54.2 MMT next year, with Ukraine producing 23.4 MMT and Kazakhstan 12.8 MMT.

Reuters report of two ships loading wheat in France this week bound for South Korea and Thailand, as they search the globe for new homes. The latter is said to be the first such shipment since 2009.

Commerzbank forecast Paris wheat futures to be around EUR200/tonne in Q4 of 2015, which is EUR40/tonne more than their previous estimate, according to Agrimoney. "Strong EU export demand, the outlook of a likely lower next EU wheat harvest and a less ample global supply lead," are the reasons for the hike.

Serbia said that they'd exported a monthly record of 480 TMT of corn in November, up sharply from the 290 TMT shipped out in October.