International

The Ukrainian Grain Traders Union have revised down its 2024 combined grain and oilseeds crop forecast by 2.8Mt to 71.8Mt due to a heatwave across the country. The total includes 23.4Mt of corn, 19.8Mt of wheat, 4.95Mt of barley, 12.8Mt of sunflower seed, 4.8Mt of soybeans and 4.3Mt of rapeseed.

The Manitoba Crop Report for the week ending 30 July notes variable rainfall was recorded across the province, with some isolated areas receiving heavy falls. Surface soil moisture was seen as optimal or wet in most parts of the province. Uneven plant development was noted in many corn fields, although conditions have improved owing to recent warm weather. Spring wheat conditions held steady over the week, with fields mostly rated as fair or good.

A letter from a dozen US senators, including Democrats and Republicans, urged Treasury secretary Janet Yellen to ensure that only domestic ingredients can receive biofuels tax credits. The bipartisan push underscores the mounting pressure on the Biden administration to halt the flood of foreign used cooking oil it said threatens American farmers and the intention of Biden’s landmark climate law. It said allowing US tax credits to fund the importation and use of foreign feedstocks to produce biofuels would put US agriculture at the back of the line, while foreign agricultural producers were subsidised by US taxpayers.

Update – Tunisia’s purchase of 125kt of milling wheat from optional origins, was at US$244-$246/t c&f. The 50kt of durum was at $322.89-$326.29/t c&f, all for Aug-Oct shipment.
Jordan’s state grains buyer has issued an international tender to purchase up to 120kt of feed barley.
US private exporters reported sales of 104,572 tonnes of corn to unknown destinations during the 2024-25 marketing year.

Australia

Local markets remained largely unchanged yesterday with canola values holding ground in the west to be bid around A$785/t FIS, there was a slight improvement on barley bids for new and old crop, up $2/t in most WA port zones. In the east prices were softer for all commodities with canola and wheat both losing around $5/t on Tuesday’s bids for current and new crop. 

Delivered Downs markets are bid around $360/t for old crop wheat and barley and $345/t for new crop. Darling Downs growers will be looking for new crop homes with barley harvest on track to begin in a month. 

The AUD continues its work to the downside, this ongoing monthly reversal is mostly driven by poor economic prospects from China, falling commodity prices, the intermittent strength of the US dollar, and a recent interest rate cut by the People’s Bank of China. 

July brought some welcome rainfall to southern cropping regions. In WA the Southwest, Lower Great Southern, and Midlands, received rainfall ranging from 25mm to 200mm. In South Australia, regions like the Lower Eyre Peninsula and Lower Southeast saw between 25mm and 100mm. In Victoria, the Mallee, Wimmera and Western Districts saw rainfall between 25mm and 200mm. In NSW, the Riverina, Southeast and Tablelands regions received rainfall ranging from 25mm to 100mm.