Grain prices aren’t moving anywhere fast, but figures from the Australian harvest might let Irish farmers feel somewhat better about the tough year gone by.
Around the world
In Australia farmers continue to cut into their wheat crops. Tasmania is one region still harvesting away.
Australia suffered from severe drought this season; however, some regions were worse affected than others.
Crops were planted in dry conditions and received small amounts of rainfall at the beginning of July and the end of August.
In better news, reports from the Grain Industry Association of Western Australia actually reported a near record harvest. The western harvest is expected to be just short of the 2016 record of 18.16 million tonnes.
More drought
There are concerns over soil moisture levels in Brazil. The dry season is on its way and forecast rainfall is below average, as has been the case with recent rain. This is a concern for both the corn and soybean crops.
AgriLand had hoped to bring United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) supply and demand estimates in the last few weeks. The monthly figures were due out on January 12, but the government shutdown in the US means data is not becoming available.
LIFFE
There wasn’t much movement in LIFFE wheat this week. A strong sterling held prices back as global prices climbed somewhat.
Starting the week at £169.00/t (€195.71/t) the January price moved to £171.20/t (€198.25/t) by close of business on Thursday (January 25).
MATIF
MATIF wheat wasn’t much more exciting. Opening the week at €205.00/t the March price hit €205.75/t on Wednesday (January 23) and had climbed to €206.50/t by Thursday (January 24) evening. By close of business on Friday (January 25) the MATIF price for March was at €205.75/t.
CBOT
Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) wheat showed signs of improvement this week. The March price hit 526.00c/bu (€169.53/t) on Wednesday (January 23). This is the highest the March price has reached in over a month. It closed at 532.75c/bu (€171.78/t) on December 18, but struggled to find any vein of form since then.
However, by the weekend CBOT wheat had dropped back and finished at 520.00c/bu (€167.60/t) on Friday (January 25) evening.