EU Wheat Closing Comments

May London wheat closed down GBP0.35 at GBP96.55/tonne, with May Paris wheat EUR0.75 lower at EUR125.00/tonne.

A broadly weaker sterling and euro limited losses, but losses there were nevertheless. The pound was down following Alistair Darling's budget day speech, whilst the euro was under pressure after Portugal had it's credit rating cut.

News of a 50,000 MT consignment of UK feed wheat heading for the Philippines, on top of recent French wheat sales to all sorts of unusual locations might help to make a bit of a dent in carryover stocks.

German farmers have now placed 1.36 MMT of barley into intervention, with 96,000 MT MT entering the support program in the last fortnight, as growers continue to attempt to clear the decks and concentrate on new crop.

Unofficial reports coming out of Ukraine and Russia suggest that winterkill has been more of an issue this year than last.

The IGC are due out tomorrow with their latest prognosis on crop production, before the USDA report on planting intentions and quarterly ending stocks next week.