European Grain Markets
- A week before the MATIF June corn futures expire, its price shot up by 7 €/t to 228 €/t yesterday. This effectively made corn, in the grain market, more expensive than bread wheat, at least as far as their front-end futures are concerned.
- Wheat in Paris erased some of the previous gains and was written off with losses for both the September (225.75€/t) and December futures (230.75€/t). Lack of demand and good weather are exerting their pressure.
- Rapeseed, which managed to get back above the 400 €/t level last week and reached 411, went down again yesterday and is positioned at 403 €/t.
American Grain Markets
- Grain markets in the US were closed yesterday. Preliminary data before the start of the session today, however, shows a slight decline in grain prices. At the moment, all attention is focused on the weather forecasts for the next few weeks. Will there be rainfall at key stages of crop development?
- Competition from Brazil is intensifying in view of the expected huge corn and soybean harvest there.
Black Sea Grain Markets
- After the adjustment in the formula for calculating the export duty on grain in Russia, the new duties are expected to be reduced by about 1,400 rubles per ton. This comes in reaction to the continuous price depreciation and is expected to lead to a strengthening of exports. According to some local traders, this change will not be felt by farmers in any way.
- Ukraine plans to finish the sowing campaign by June 5-10. At the moment, the plan laid out on May 13 has already been implemented at 85% – 90%, says the Ukrainian Ministry of Agrarian Policy. The sowing of the early spring crops (wheat, barley, peas, oats) has ended, while the sowing of sunflower, soybeans and corn is currently underway.
- Despite the announced renewal of the grain deal on May 18, vessel movements remain restricted. At least Erdogan’s victory in Turkey’s election will not raise further question marks and can be seen as a positive sign for the bears.