EU Grains Mostly Lower In Choppy Trade

Posted by Nogger - a legend in his own mind at 09:35 | Categorized as

09/01/15 -- EU grains finished the day mixed, but mostly lower, with Jan 15 London wheat down GBP0.30/tonne at GBP131.20/tonne, Jan 15 Paris wheat ended EUR4.00/tonne higher at EUR194.75/tonne, Mar 15 Paris corn was down EUR0.50/tonne at EUR162.75/tonne and Feb 15 Paris rapeseed ended EUR0.25/tonne easier at EUR361.25/tonne.

It was a choppy session, in which expiring Monday Jan 15 Paris wheat traded in an EUR8.25/tonne range. May 15 London wheat closed towards the middle of its GBP2.80 daily trading range.

For the week, Jan 15 London wheat was GBP0.50/tonne weaker, Jan 15 Paris wheat fell EUR3.25/tonne, Mar 15 Paris corn was up EUR1.50/tonne and Feb 15 Paris rapeseed jumped EUR13.50/tonne.

The pound rose a little versus the dollar and euro today. Against the US currency it was still almost 2 cents lower on the week, and remains close to yesterday's 1 1/2 year low of 1.5088, whereas it's close to a 36 month high versus the euro.

It's been a week low on news really, with traders in Europe and the US settling back into the post-holiday routine, and many in Russia and Ukraine still absent for their orthodox Christmas celebrations.

Reuters reported that the Ukraine government are to meet with domestic trading houses on Jan 13 to discuss wheat exports, with some sort of limitation on the agenda. They are said to be concerned that the Feb 1 Russian export duty will see more interest switch to Ukraine wheat. The country has already shipped around 80% of their exportable wheat surplus for the season, according to the report.

EU soft wheat licences for the past week only came in at 196 TMT, taking the total volume granted by Brussels so far this year to 14.8 MMT. That's the first sign of things starting to lag behind the year ago record pace of 15.1 MMT, although it was of course for a holiday shortened week.

Strategie Grains were said to have raised their outlook a little on the 2015 French soft wheat crop to 37.191 MMT, although that is 0.8% lower than last year's output.

All eyes now are on the USDA's WASDE report, quarterly stocks figures and US winter wheat planting estimates due on Monday at 17.00 GMT.

This day often causes some big price movements in the markets. It's been bearish on wheat for three of the past five years and bullish for corn in three out of five.