EU Grains Mostly Higher, UK Stocks Seen Tightening
12/10/16 -- EU grains closed mostly higher on the day. For rapeseed this was the highest close since Jun 8.
At the close Nov 16 London wheat was down GBP0.25/tonne at GBP131.25/tonne, Dec 16 Paris wheat was EUR1.50/tonne higher to EUR159.50/tonne, Nov 16 Paris corn was EUR0.50/tonne easier at EUR157.50/tonne, Nov 16 Paris rapeseed was EUR1.75/tonne higher at EUR383.50/tonne.
Algeria tendered for an arbitary 50,000 MT of soft wheat of optional origin for Nov/Dec shipment. They frequently purchase much more than they tender for - booking 700 TMT of what was thought mostly EU wheat last time.
Jordan tendered for 100 TMT of optional origin feed barley for March delivery.
Ukraine's harvest (currently standing at 80% done) is reported stalled due to high winds and heavy rain.
The latest figures from Defra show that the balance of wheat availability and domestic consumption this season is 2.75 MMT in the UK in 2016/17, 51% lower year on year and only above 2013/14 within the past ten years, say the HGCA.
"Barley supply and demand is also forecast to be tighter than last two seasons as a result of the smaller crop but less so than in 2013/14," they add.
Late in the day the USDA cut their estimate for this year's EU-28 all wheat crop by 2 MMT to 143.2 MMT, reducing exports in 2016/17 by 1 MMT to 25 MMT "on large production cuts in major exporting countries, particularly France and Germany." Production therefore is now seen 16.8 MMT, or 10.5%, down on a year ago, with exports declining 9.7 MMT, or 28%.
Globally however output was only lowered 0.4 MMT due to production increases for Canada, Australia and Brazil. World ending stocks were trimmed 0.7 MMT to a still huge 248.3 MMT - a third of the global crop.
The size of the EU-28 corn crop was cut by 0.9 MMT to 60.3 MMT, rapeseed output was left unchanged at 20 MMT.
