Futures mostly traded firmer; Monday’s settlements as follows;

Wheat picked up gradually through last night’s session in the US, before easing back slightly on some profit taking pre-close.  Chicago wheat closed up 3.5¢ to 469 ½, KC up 4 ¼¢ to 449 ¼¢, Minny up 1 cent to 573 ¼¢, and Matif rapeseed is unchanged at 189.5€ on the earlier close.  Corn closed up a cent and a half to 378 ¼¢, Beans +2 ¾¢ to 906.5¢, and canola bounced slightly after Friday’s sell off with Winnipeg up $2.8 to 456.7 and Matif up 1 ¼€ to 359€.  Crude oil broke early on but bounced quickly to trade nearly unchanged (closing -11¢ to $58.8 on WTI, up 18¢ to $67.2 on Brent) and the DOW traded a tight band – up slightly early session but off 33 points as of writing.  The AUD has continued to strengthen slightly (to 71.1¢ currently, the EUR up a hair to $1.132, and the CAD continuing to weaken slightly to $1.341.  Brexit politics are being thrown all over, with the Prime Minister acknowledging that they do not have enough votes to pass the proposed Brexit agreement (which they need to pass to meet the EU’s requirements to avoid an earlier no-deal exit).

SAGO results were out (for barley) late last night – most booked prices ranged in the $205-$215 C&F range (with the 2h June positions the cheaper ones – potentially someone looking to roll those to new crop).  Working back, that’s the equivalent of approximately a $235-240 AUD FIS market in WA – some $40 under current levels and confirming expectations that this will be filled mostly with EU/BSEA and potentially a few Argy boats (optional tender – so these can change before shipment).

Looking forward, GASC is reportedly back in for late April/early May wheat arrival.  This tender reverts to prior payment terms though (after they changed to at-sight payment earlier this year) as they appear to have used up their prior credit line – should add a few dollars in extra costings above the market (part of the traditional “GASC Premium”).

Concerns are starting to pick up in the US Midwest about the rains Lachstock mentioned yesterday, as forecasters consider the impact of the added moisture on already flood-level waters in the southern Midwest.  From a wheat point of view, we note that the Red River is not supposed to start fully flooding until next week or the week after (weather dependent) – it’s still ice covered in parts and temperatures there have not warmed up as quickly as they have elsewhere.  Still, this makes for a messy planting season further north of Grand Forks where there are still significant spring wheat areas.  Winter wheat crop conditions should be out later this morning for the southern plains of the US – some drier conditions on the near term forecasts for wheat areas but very good soil moisture has held through recent weeks.