North American markets were open on Monday and traded firmer following pre-Easter profit taking. European and Australian markets were closed.

• Chicago wheat May contract up US24cents per bushel to 1120.5c/bu;
• Kansas wheat May contract up 31c/bu to 1185c/bu;
• Minneapolis wheat May up 30.5c/bu to 1175c/bu;
• MATIF wheat market was closed on Monday;
• Black Sea wheat July contract up $1.25/t to $360/t;
• Corn May contract up 23c/bu to 813.25c/bu;
• Soybeans May contract up 32.5c/bu to 1714.75c/bu;
• Winnipeg canola November 2022 contract up C$17/t to $1049.80/t;
• MATIF rapeseed market was closed on Monday;
• ASX markets were closed on Monday;
• AUD dollar weaker at US$0.735.

International

It seems like a life time ago that we were heading into the Easter long weekend as markets eased, the trade taking profit ahead of the 3-day break. Monday saw firming markets as traders re-establish positions. The situation in the Ukraine is underpinning support for added investment across the agricultural markets.

USDA released its crop condition report which gave another reason for fresh buying. The trade was hoping for improvement in conditions, only to see the good-to-excellent rating drop back to the 30pc low. Additionally, some of the back-end rain has dropped off the forecast.

Australia

Local current crop wheat markets late last week continued to firm amid deliveries of protein wheat. Victorian and northern NSW bids gained $10-15/t compared with the previous week.

New crop markets continued to firm on all commodities but liquidity remained limited.

Port congestion continues to be a problem. Wait times have improved slightly this week at Port Kembla and Newcastle. But although the outlook remains steady at 10 days in Geelong, it is getting worse at most other major ports including Albany (17 days), Kwinana (16 days), Kembla (20 days) and Lucky Bay (7 days).

Easter Monday rainfall totals have been welcomed in Victoria with the forecast for the next 8 days looking very positive for southern New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia. It will provide a great start to the season for growers who now are into their seeding programs.