Fighting intensified over the weekend in Ukraine, with Ukraine saying it was continuing to make advances against Russian troops occupying its south and east in the early stages of its counteroffensive. Kyiv said on Monday it took control of seven villages since the weekend and made small gains near the eastern city of Bakhmut. Russia said it repelled all Ukrainian attacks.
 

Russia is still unhappy with the way the Black Sea grain deal is being implemented. Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Vershinin said after a meeting with UN trade officials that barriers to exports remain. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres when asked a at a press conference about his thoughts over whether Russia will renew the deal next month said he was concerned. 

The USDA’s Friday WASDE release was pretty much as expected and was thought to be fairly neutral for wheat, as expected for corn and a little bearish for soybeans.
 

FranceAgriMer reports as at 5 Jun, the 2023-24 common wheat crop was rated 88pc good/excellent, down from 91pc the previous week (66pc previous year), durum 82pc (86pc previous week, 62pc previous year), winter barley 87pc (88pc, 64pc), spring barley 89pc (93pc, 53pc) and maize 88pc (92pc, 88pc).
 

European agritrade lobby Coceral revised downward its 2023-24 production estimates due to dry weather in northern Europe and Spain. Soft wheat production in the EU+UK was revised down by 2.1Mt to 142.4Mt. It trimmed rapeseed production by 0.1Mt, to 21.0Mt but said a further forecast reduction was “very likely” if dryness persisted in the northern half of the EU. 

The Saskatchewan Crop Report notes that for the week ending 5 June, 2023-24 plantings advanced to 96pc complete (91pc previous year, 97pc five-year avg). Rain over the week was largely welcomed as it boosted soil moisture levels, yet also caused some delays to farmers looking to complete seeding activities. Localised storms led to flooding in some areas, while heavy winds and hail saw some crop damage, although heat and drought are also causing stress. Soil moisture conditions improved, to 78pc adequate (69pc previous week, 51pc previous year) and 17pc short (24pc previous week, 28pc previous year).
 

According to Argentina’s Ag. Ministry, for the week ending 8 June corn harvest was 46pc complete (57pc previous year), sorghum at 48pc (68pc) and soybeans at 94pc (98pc). 2023-24 wheat planting was 21pc complete (30pc previous year) and barley was 10pc complete (21pc). 

Japan’s MAFF reportedly purchased 86,922t milling wheat, including 55,159t CWRS (min. 13.5pc protein) from Canada, Aug loading and 31,763t ASW from Australia, Oct loading. 

Tunisia’s state grains agency cancelled its recent tender for 100,000t common wheat. A new tender is expected to be issued this week.

Australia

Local markets will return today from a long weekend for most states. The firmer Australian dollar continues to be the driver, keeping the lid on local bids. Markets are well offered but bid offer spreads remain wide.

Australian exported more than 3Mt wheat in April for the fourth month in a row, according to ABS data. The biggest destination was China, 985kt, then Thailand, 330kt, and Indonesia took just under 300kt. Marketing year to date (Oct-Apr) exports were 19.5Mt, 25pc higher than over the same period last year.

According to GIWA’s latest monthly crop report released last Friday, rainfall across most of the WA grainbelt over the previous week transformed the season’s grain production potential from one of below average to at least average or above average. GIWA revised up the area planted to winter crops from 8.30mha to 8.53mha.