• The 2018 harvest in the US is running ahead of the five-year average. At the end of last week, 26% of the maize corn harvest was complete. The five-year average for this time of the year is 17% complete. The soya bean harvest was 23% complete, compared with a five-year average of 20% complete.
  • French grain market consultancy group Strategie Grains has raised its forecast for rapeseed production in the EU to just under 20m tonnes. If realised, this rapeseed crop would still be down 10% on last year.
  • According to grain futures market and trading platform the Buenos Aires Grain Exchange, Argentinian wheat production will top 20m tonnes this year, while maize corn production will hit 43m tonnes. If realised, these would both be record crops for Argentina.
  • Dairy commodities prices hit a two-year low in New Zealand this week, following the latest GDT auction. Average dairy prices fell 1.9% this week to $2,900/t (€2,510/t), which is the lowest return for the GDT index since October 2016.