Last week, nearby wheat in Europe closed at €220.75/t for Matif wheat for March. Meanwhile, December Matif wheat closed the week at €234.75/t.

On Wednesday afternoon 10 January, that price had dropped to €233/t. London wheat for November closed at £206.30/t (€239.77/t) on Friday 5 January. That was at £205.75/t (€239.13/t) on Wednesday.

Competitive grain supplies from the Black Sea continue to weigh on markets. Egypt is reported to have purchased approximately 420,000t of Russian and Ukrainian wheat.

Agritel reported the price of this wheat at $265/t free on board for payment at 270 days. The French wheat price was not able to compete at a reported $272/t free on board.

South American weather

However, as written about in recent weeks, weather in South America is something to keep an eye on.

Some reports this week suggest that an under-performance of the Brazilian corn crop could be balanced out by reports of a good crop in Argentina. However, the crops coming from South America are still expected to be extremely large.

The World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report is due this Friday.

Oilseed rape

Oilseed rape price took a big drop last week. The August price for French Matif rapeseed closed on Friday 5 January at €424.50/t. That was €14.75/t behind the week before. On Wednesday afternoon, that price was at €425.25/t.

Oilseed rape prices most likely dropped as they followed the soya bean market. Rain in Brazil is reported to have been positive for the soya bean crop, so prices were put under pressure.

The Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) in the UK reported this week that the UK spot ex-farm premium for malting barley was £78.40/t higher than feed barley in the week ending 4 January.

This was reported to be the highest price gap so far this season. However, with winter drilling behind in many countries, the spring barley area is expected to increase in many key growing regions including the UK, France and Germany, so this may result in higher malting barley supply and affect prices for crops about to be planted.

Native prices

At home, markets were reported as quiet. The spot price for Irish barley is priced at around €220 to €225/t and Irish spot wheat is around €10/t above this price.

Maize ex-port is at approximately €230/t, while soya ex-port has dropped in price again from about €510/t last week to €495/t this week.