There was no news in the markets this week to lift prices, so we saw international markets fall once again, as yield prospects improved and were better than expected where harvest has started.

Restrictions on imports and low buying activity from some countries is also affecting demand.

Matif French wheat for December closed last Friday at €233.50/t, some €11.25/t behind the previous week. By Tuesday, it had fallen further to €229/t.

Some people are now questioning how low can the price go? Last March, the December Matif price hit €204/t, but with more supply in the market than estimated currently.

Maize will be a watch point in the US, South America and Europe.

Oilseed rape has held well enough since its big drop a few weeks ago. The French price for November closed last Friday at €471.75/t. On Tuesday, that price was at €468.75/t.

At home, that led to Tirlán offering suppliers prices of €180/t for barley, €200/t for wheat and €430/t for oilseed rape. All prices are on a green basis delivered at harvest.

The European Commission released its latest crop monitoring report on Monday 24 June. Almost all crop yield forecasts were revised down in the report, but still remain close to the five-year average.

Total cereal production was revised down 1% from the previous report. Rape and turnip yields were down 2%, potatoes down 3%, sunflower down 2% and beans and peas down 1% .

Large amounts of rainfall have affected crops in the Benelux countries, western Germany, northeastern France and northern Italy and planting continues in these regions for some crops.

On the other side of the story, a water deficit is affecting crops in eastern Germany and parts of Poland.

The AHDB reported that Russian consultancy IKAR increased the estimate for the wheat harvest by 500,000t to 82m tonnes.

In the US, there are concerns about rain which could delay wheat harvest, although progress has been good so far, with 40% harvested as of 23 June, well above the five-year average of 25% for the time of year.

Malting barley

The Boortmalt price for harvest 2024 currently stands at €256.27/t. The average is currently at €266.27/t, but Boortmalt places a €10/t logistics charge on this. The lowest price contributing to the average was last week at €248/t, while the highest price was €282/t on 23 May.

Native prices

Spot prices remained similar at home, with barley at €215/t and wheat at €235/t. November prices were similar, but wheat was hitting €245/t (dried).