US wheat and soybeans eased more than one per cent. Matif rapeseed eased another 2pc. Brent crude eased 1pc and the Dow Jones Industrials Average eased 2pc.
- Chicago wheat March 2023 contract down US 9.25 cents per bushel to 742.5c/bu;
- Kansas wheat March 2023 contract down 14.25c/bu at 841.5c/bu;
- Minneapolis wheat March 2023 contract down 15c/bu to 901c/bu;
- MATIF wheat March 2023 contract up €2/t to €288.75/t;
- Black Sea wheat March 2023 contract up 0.25c/t to $308/t;
- Corn March 2023 contract down 4c/bu to 681.25c/bu;
- Soybeans March 2023 contract down 15.25c/bu to 1524.5c/bu;
- Winnipeg canola March 2023 contract down C$5.20/t to $836.70/t;
- MATIF rapeseed February 2023 contract down €17.75/t to €538.50/t;
- ASX Mar 2023 wheat contract down A$2/t to $375/t;
- ASX Mar 2023 barley contract down A$7.50/t to $307.50/t;
- AUD dollar weakened to US$0.694.
International
FranceAgriMer has revised up its forecast for French soft wheat exports by 300,000t from their December number to 10.6Mt (up 21pc from previous year), citing strong demand from North Africa. The competitiveness of French wheat in North African markets had been helped by rising insurance costs for exports from Russia.
Moscow-based Institute for Agricultural Market Studies IKAR yesterday raised their 2022-23 wheat export estimate from 44.0Mt to 45.5Mt.
Brazilian grain exporting association ANEC has revised up January corn exports again to 5.18Mt, up from 5.02Mt last week.
Brazil’s Ag Minister said crop production could be increased by 5pc per year for “several years” without deforestation, due to the conversion of pastureland. Brazil has over 370 million acres of pastures with low productivity, and nearly 100 million acres of that could be converted into crops. The Government will offer credit with beneficial terms to farmers and provide more support for agricultural insurance.
Argentina received western rains yesterday which looks set to continue through the weekend, with a positive 6-10 day forecast. Brazil also saw good 24-hour totals through the centre-north with the 10-day forecast calling for average to above average rainfall.
Egypt has set its wheat procurement price at 1,250 Egyptian pounds (US$42.23) per ardeb (150 kilograms) for the 2023 local procurement season, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said on state TV on Wednesday. The new price is more than 40pc higher than last season’s procurement price and 25pc above the initial price it set in August. Egypt’s government provides heavily subsidised bread to more than 70 million of its 104 million citizens.
Algeria reportedly purchased 570-600,000t milling wheat in an international tender at $334.50/t C&F for March shipment expected to have been sourced from the Black Sea region.
Importers from the Philippines issued a tender for up to 165,000t feed wheat and 45,000t soybean meal yesterday, for April-May-June shipment and Importers from Thailand issued a tender for up to 135,000t feed wheat.
Australia
Local market showed signs of weakness yesterday on the cash boards, with bids pulling back $5/t. Some of the short covering has got out the way in the delivered markets. However, we continue to see ASX March eastern Australia wheat around $375/t, while feed grains that are sitting in the port valued around $390-400/t range.
Showers of rain have pushed through areas along the east coast mainly through western parts of Victoria where growers are still harvesting.
According to ABS data we exported 1.79Mt of wheat in November, down 11pc from October. China was our biggest market, taking 363,607t, followed closely by Indonesia with 345,637t. The Philippines took 262,410t to round out the top three.
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