The Morning News
26/05/15 -- It's been a predictably slow start to developments this morning, as the UK and US markets awake from their long weekends, and think about returning to work.
Later on, all eyes will be on the USDA's one day delayed weekly crop progress report, with US corn plantings now likely to be somewhere in the low 90's sown and soybeans around 55-60% planted, the market anticipates. We will probably also get the first corn crop ratings of the season, and these are expected to show some of the highest percentages in the good to excellent category on record.
Also later today, we should get the May edition of the EU Commission's MARS monthly crop report and revised yield estimates.
In other news this morning, Senalia - the largest silo operator in the French leading port of Rouen - are said to have re-opened their doors for the intake of wheat today, following a pick-up in export demand.
Their silo in Rouen is of course one of the only two delivery points in the port against the Paris wheat futures contract.
Russian spring planting is said to be 71.2% complete on 22.1 million ha, that's down on the 24.4 million ha that had been planted this time a year ago. Wheat planting is 62.6% done on 8.2 million ha, say the Russian Ag Ministry.
Things are even further behind in sodden Kazakhstan where only 22.1% of spring crops have been sown so far. A year ago that figure was 8.14 million ha.
Rusagrotrans forecast that Russia could export 1.0-1.1 MMT of grains this month, and maybe as much as 1.3 MMT next month.
Iraq are tendering for 50 TMT of optional origin wheat, but frequently buy much more than they tender for. Japan are in for 100 TMT of US/Canadian/Australian milling wheat. South Korea have bought 69 TMT of feed wheat of unspecified origin over the weekend.
Ukragroconsult have raised their estimate for this year's Ukraine grain crop by 2.6 MMT to 54.9 MMT, although that's still a fair bit less than the optimistic 60 MMT forecast by the Ag Ministry last week.
The euro is under pressure again, following comments by one of their Ministers over the weekend that they don't have the money to pay the IMF what they owe next month. This has sort of been denied since by a different Minister, according to a report on the BBC website this morning.
The wording of that though says that they "intend" to keep making their repayments "for as long as possible" which doesn't sound like too much of a guarantee to me.
I might give the bank a call later to see if I can borrow enough money to buy a Ferrari on the promise that I "intend" to keep making the repayments "for as long as possible" and see how I get on.
Barclays maintain their bearish outlook on the future of the euro, seeing it being worth only 69 pence to the pound by the end of the year, when it will also be less than parity against the US dollar.
How long have we been taking about a Grexit now? Over 5 years isn't it? Jimmy Savile was a top bloke who did a lot of work for charity back then, and Rolf Harris was painting the Queen.
El Nino might be causing some drought/dryness issues with corn in Indonesia I read. That's all for now....
