Grain markets aren’t too exciting at present, as most consumers are probably fairly well set up for supplies at this stage in case of price increases.

Currency continues to play a role in price movements. The other big influence at the minute is harvests in the southern hemisphere.

The Matif wheat price for December 2026 closed at €206/t on 3 December, but fell since that time and was at €202/t on Wednesday afternoon (10 December).

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Maize was also in the red, but French rapeseed for November was up €5/t on Wednesday afternoon at €462.50/t after a decline on Tuesday. It hit recent highs of €470.75/t and €468.75/t on 17 and 27 November respectively.

Overall, grain markets remain well supplied and with good harvests still coming, it is hard to see any big jump in prices.

Argentina’s wheat forecast remains unchanged at 25.5m tonnes, according to Agritel, with average yields reported at 3.92t/ha.

In early December, the harvest was 45% complete. Protein contents were reported to be low.

Quality is something to keep an eye on, as if grain doesn’t meet milling quality or the demand is low for malting barley for example, it will enter the feed market.

The AHDB reported that Argentina’s economy minister announced cuts to export taxes on wheat, barley and soybeans, which could make the country more competitive.

The Weekly Times in Australia reported that farmers in Western Australia were reporting “unprecedented” crop yields that could result in a record-breaking harvest of over 27m tonnes of wheat, barley and other grains.

The US Department of Agriculture released its World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report on Tuesday of this week.

The report placed world wheat production for 2025/2026 up 1.1% on last month.

The AHDB commented that “comfortable global supplies” were keeping pressure on prices. Coarse grain production (maize and barley) was estimated down slightly in the report.

Native prices

We have no reports of offers from merchants of co-ops this week.

Indications for early spring prices place barley, wheat and maize around the same price.

Wheat and barley are reported at around €215/t, while imports are about €5/t above this and maize is reported at about €220/t.

Maize is one to watch. Brazil is expected to produce less in 2026, but the crop is still likely to be among record production levels according to reports.