Wheat prices continue to lack excitement – the lack of movement of grain in the EU is a factor in this.
The EU commission had forecast a drop in EU soft wheat exports from 20 million tonnes to 18 million tonnes. However, the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) has estimated that if EU exports do not pick up on current pace that figure will be approximately 15.6 million tonnes.
Last week saw just 28,000t of wheat moved by the EU. Having said that Russian export pace is set to slow down. The country’s wheat production was down 17 million tonnes last harvest and export pace is running 18% ahead of last year.
Once that supply runs low there should be room for EU exports to rise.
LIFFE
LIFFE wheat for March remains underwhelming. It started the week (February 4) at £169.35/t and didn’t stray too far away from this figure, landing on £168.75/t on Tuesday (February 5) and £169.45/t on Wednesday (February 6).
MATIF
The MATIF price for March wasn’t budging too far out of its latest comfort zone either. It closed on Monday (February 4) at €204.50/t and was at €203.50/t on Wednesday (February 6). The March price dropped to €202.00/t on Thursday (February 7).
CBOT
Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) showed the best signs of hope at the beginning of the week, but dropped back in the second half.
Having finished on Friday (February 1) at 524.25c/bu it reached 527.25c/bu on Tuesday (February 5), before dropping slightly on Wednesday (February 6) to 526c/bu.
By Thursday, that price took a significant hit; it landed on 513.25c/bu.