The Kremlin said on Monday that the European Union’s reluctance to reconnect Russia’s state agricultural bank to the SWIFT payment network showed the bloc’s “non-constructive stance” on the Black Sea grain deal. The Russian newspaper Izvestia had quoted EU foreign affairs spokesman Peter Stano as saying that Rosselkhozbank could only be readmitted to SWIFT once the conflict in Ukraine was over. 

According to Ukraine’s Ag. Ministry, as at 19 May, cumulative 2022-23 wheat exports totalled 15.1Mt (down 18pc from previous year), barley at 2.6Mt (down 54pc) and maize at 26.1Mt is 19pc higher than previous year.
SovEcon have revised up 2023-24 Russian wheat production by 1.4Mt to 88.0Mt (104.2Mt previous year). 

Reuters is reporting that on a three-day tour of Kansas, they found that growers are abandoning their crops and intentionally spraying out wheat fields and claiming insurance payouts more than normal, betting the grain is not worth harvesting. Other growers are turning over dismal-looking fields to cattle for grazing. 

Another shipment of about 30,000t EU origin wheat, believed to be from Poland, is expected to be shipped to the US in June or July. This follows two previous shipments of Polish wheat to the US, both to Tampa, Florida.
Cecilia Conde, chief crop analyst at the Buenos Aires Grain Exchange has said that Argentina’s farmers need rain to arrive within the next three weeks to stand any chance of emerging from a disastrous drought that has shriveled harvests and slashed agricultural exports. Growers in the heart of the Pampas growing region need rain in the coming days or they will have to cut back the forecasts for expanded acreage and higher production, which were predicated on the La Nina climate pattern coming to an end. 

The Taiwan Flour Millers’ Association has issued a tender to purchase 56,000t grade 1 milling wheat to be sourced from the United States or European. 

A group of South Korean flour mills has issued a tender to purchase around 135,000t milling wheat to be sourced from the United States, Canada and Australia.

Local markets started the week off much the same as how they ended last week. More ASW1 in WA current crop continued to trade at $350/t FIS level Kwinana. Little bits and pieces for feed wheat in Victoria popped up and moved over the day, new crop bids and offers remain wide in the market across all commodities as it remains dry on the forecast for large parts of WA and NSW, while some more rainfall is on the radar for the back end of the week in South Australia and Victoria. 

The 8-day forecast is looking dry for Qld, while NSW is expected to see less than 10mm for all cropping regions. Vic is looking at variable falls of between 1-50mm, with the heavier totals expected in the south and east. SA cropping regions are forecast to receive between 5-25mm, whilst WA is looking relatively dry over the next 8 days.