Filtered by type: Commodity Report
Global wheat markets have firmed. Domestic consumption is significantly higher since March. Global grain supply is estimated to decline. Fipronil scandal office raids. Monks make beer… in the monastry?
Recent DEFRA data indicates that the 2017 crop was about 350,000t lower than previous estimates. Will we again be a net importer in 2018/19? As Russian wheat exports have grown over the past decade, the importance of US wheat exports has declined. Going the extra mile, and finishing by a country mile - how far do you travel?
London wheat continued to gain despite losses in both the EU and US. Torrential Easter weekend weather was no surprise. China and the US play tit-for-tat with tariffs, dramatically changing the supply network and trade flows. The contents of Heathrow Terminal 1 will be auctioned off in two weeks’ time.
Wheat futures firmed during the last two weeks, extending the recovery phase. European markets most have been low on action, but have finished slightly up. The predicted cold weather may be holding back traders, as the effect on wheat production is as yet unknown. An extremely rare fossil of a baby bird which lived 127 million years ago and shared the planet with dinosaurs is helping us understand the evolution of birds.
The UK market seems to be stronger as rumours and currency pushed London wheat to three-month highs. Drought seems to be affecting many areas of the world. The remains of England’s most notorious and richest pirate Captain Black Sam Bellamy may have been discovered on the wreck of his ship the Whydah Gally.
The physical price remains pretty stable day to day, with currency and political developments being the main drivers in longer term, though the actual price level depends on the north-south distance from Hampshire. La Niña is being blamed for the dry conditions in Argentina as well as Brazil’s wet Mato Grosso state, which is delaying its harvest. About half of the UK’s 900 KFC outlets have no chicken. Not so finger likin good!
UK May wheat futures continue to trade within the same tight channel of the last four weeks and lacking any significant change in local or global supply and demand it continues to do so. It seems that the inclusion or exclusion of a comma might be very expensive as a US court case has recently highlighted. Another win for the lawyers maybe?!
UK wheat prices showed a small bounce earlier in the week but have returned to the gentle downward trend, with the May wheat hitting contract lows of £137.50 and finished the week just above that level. Can a swarm of locusts cause huge embarrassment to Russian officials if as feared, the locusts sit down to enjoy some of the football pitches set aside for the World Cup in June this year.