Grain prices continued their trend of recent weeks, moving up and down slightly from their base. On Wednesday afternoon, Matif wheat for December stood at €384.75/t.

Glanbia this week announced the same prices as last week for green wheat and barley at harvest, a signal of the relatively quiet markets at present. Those prices were €340/t for green wheat and €325/t for green barley.

Old-crop barley is somewhere around €390/t and wheat is at approximately €400/t. Spot maize is at €365/t at present.

As it is trading €30/t below barley, sellers should continue to keep an eye on this, as consumers may move to the cheaper product.

Estimates

Estimates have 97% of corn now planted in the US, with 88% emerged, 59% reported to be in good condition and 13% in excellent condition. Meanwhile, 70% of the soya bean crop is reported to be in good to excellent condition.

The Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) in the UK is giving a slightly positive outlook on prices for the next two to six months, with the exception of soya beans.

In the UK, the November wheat price moved up following the World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report, published on 10 June, and continued this way to Tuesday evening, when the price hit £310.85/t.

Wheat supplies were estimated down and production for 2022/2023 was also estimated down by 1.4m tonnes.

The winter barley harvest is under way in parts of Europe such as Italy, France and Romania. The early crops are most likely those hit by dry conditions and a better indication of yield will come as the harvest progresses.

Barley production in the WASDE report is forecast lower in the EU by approximately 800,000t. Lower yields are forecast in Spain and France, but estimates are increased for Germany.

Oilseed production was also lowered in the report by an estimated 0.3m tonnes to 646.8m tonnes. Lower sunflower seed production in the Ukraine is affecting this figure.

Rapeseed production is expected to increase in Australia due to a higher harvested area.

Paris rapeseed prices fell this week. On Friday 10 June, the November price had reached €783.75/t. However, on Wednesday afternoon 15 June, it had dropped to €754.25/t.

The market will continue to look at grain exports from Ukraine, as well as suggestions that grain silos may be built near Ukraine’s borders.

Weather conditions will be watched in the coming weeks, as harvest begins in many areas and corn and soya bean crops start the growing season in others.