AgriLand‘s last grain price report was published on December 21, 2018 and things haven’t changed much since on the markets front.
In fact LIFFE wheat for January stood at £173.20/t (€192.85/t) on December 21 and closed just 25p above that figure on Thursday, January 3.
Around the world
US soy imports to the EU are expected to increase by 3 million tonnes this season to 10 million tonnes.
Drought in Europe as well as reduced sales to China, as a result of the trade war, are among some of the reasons for the increase to these regions. Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) soybeans are trading in and around the 900c/bu mark (€290/t).
Harvest figures from Russia were also released on December 27 and it is estimated that the wheat harvest decreased by 16% in 2018 to 72 million tonnes – down from the 2017 record of 85.8 million tonnes.
Reports show that wheat, barley, oats, rye and corn yield all decreased while rice and soybean production increased.
LIFFE
As mentioned above there has been little change in the LIFFE wheat market for January. Over the new year the price dipped to £172.60/t (€192.19/t) and the highest it reached was £173.80/t (€193.52/t). On Friday (January 4) LIFFE wheat closed at £173.45/t (€193.13/t).
MATIF
Having reached highs of €207.50/t in the days leading up to Christmas the MATIF wheat price for March kept a low profile. It hit €203.25/t on December 27. However, the price showed improvements this week, it closed at €206.00/t on Thursday (January 3) and sat at €207.00/t on Friday (January 4) evening.
CBOT
Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) wheat isn’t lighting up the market. Over the Christmas holidays it dropped to 510c/bu (€164.46/t), dropped to 503.25c/bu (€162.20/t) in the new year and on Thursday evening it closed at 513.75c/bu (€165.75/t).