EU Grains Report - Thursday
07/04/16 -- EU grains closed mixed, with Egypt's GASAC buying one cargo of French wheat late in the day.
At the finish, front month May 16 London wheat was down GBP0.30/tonne at GBP106.30/tonne, May 16 Paris wheat was EUR1.00/tonne easier at EUR153.25/tonne, Jun 16 corn was up EUR2.25/tonne to EUR155.25/tonne and May 16 rapeseed was down EUR0.50/tonne at EUR368.50/tonne.
Late on, Egypt booked just the one cargo of French wheat at USD181.69/tonne FOB, or 194.34/tonne C&F, for May shipment. Ukraine wheat was the best offer on an FOB basis at USD182.99/tonne, but missed out on freight (and possibly also quality?) considerations.
The total volume put up for offer was relatively light, signalling seller caution over everything from late payment to constantly changing quality criteria with the buyer.
Ukraine said that early spring grains were now planted on 77% of the Ag Min target for 2016/17. Most of this is spring barley on 1.3 million ha, or 67% of plan. Small areas of corn are now being planted, as indeed is also now the case in Southern Russia.
Adverse autumn weather conditions slashed Ukraine's winter wheat plantings this year. Higher than normal levels of winter kill, and a dry late winter-early spring are also said to have had an adverse affect on crops there.
More than half of the 2016 winter wheat crop may fail to make million standard this year, said one local analyst.
That doesn't sound too bullish for London feed wheat in the first quarter or two of the new season.
Algeria are tendering for 50,000 MT of optional origin wheat, but generally book far more than they tender for. France are typically the main supplier, but other EU nations and the Black Sea regularly compete for the business.
