EU Wheat Edges Higher

EU wheat futures edged higher Wednesday, with January London wheat closing up GBP0.25 at GBP107.50/tonne, and Paris January milling wheat up EUR1.50 at EUR133.25/tonne.

US futures were steadier, as too were outside markets such as gold and crude oil.

Egypt bought 300,000 MT of mostly Russian wheat in it's tender, only 60,000 MT coming from France. Four 60,000 MT cargoes of Russian wheat came from Aston, Valars, Venus and Alexandria Grain, all at USD198.75/tonne - what an amazing coincidence!

They also bought one cargo of 60,000 MT of French wheat from Glencore for USD201.00/tonne. Not an enormous gap, and one that will continue to narrow as Russian wheat up to Egypt's exacting standards continues to disappear.

Jordan appear not quite so fussy, booking 150,000 MT of Ukraine wheat yesterday. Unlike Russia, wheat of any quality will soon be disappearing there with exports running ahead of last season's pace despite a sharply reduced crop.

Wheat yields and quality are declining in the southern hemisphere. Very heavy rains and flooding have hit southern Brazil and Uruguay recently, whilst Australia has seen a combination of 30-35C temperatures and heavy rain affect later maturing crops.