Grain markets took a tumble on Tuesday. French (Matif) wheat for December closed at €271.75/t on Tuesday evening, but recovered somewhat on Wednesday afternoon, climbing back up by almost €3/t at the time of going to print.

Looking at week-ending figures, the price for French wheat for December was at €274.75/t on Friday 13 January. That’s down €6/t on the week previous.

Competitive Russian wheat prices are contributing to some of the fall in prices. Less demand for grain in some parts of the world is also having an effect. The US expects to use more of its own wheat in the near term.

The drop in prices has been reflected at home with a co-op offering 2023 harvest prices of €233/t quoted for green wheat and €225/t quoted for green barley last week.

WASDE

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) released its World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report at the end of last week.

In the same week, wheat seed sales in the US were reported to have increased dramatically, teeing up decreases in the maize and soya bean areas.

The WASDE report had an outlook for increased supplies, exports, consumption and stocks for wheat globally.

The maize outlook was for lower production, increased trade and reduced stock.

In fact, global coarse grain production for 2022/2023 is forecast down 7.3 million tonnes to 1,446.4 million.

While a big maize crop is expected from Brazil, production was cut in this month’s report to reflect the dry conditions in parts of the south of the country.

Oilseed prices were also dropping in Europe. On Tuesday, French oilseed rape prices for November were at €561/t, €10/t below last week’s (13 January) closing price.

Soya prices continue to rise on imported prices here and on the Chicago Board of Trade in the US. It was reported that the Rosario Grain Exchange has cut production estimates for the Argentinian soya bean crop by 12m tonnes to 37m tonnes for 2022/2023 as drought continues to effect conditions.

Native prices

At home, native prices have followed the trend of those globally.

Spot prices for Irish barley and wheat are coming in around €286/t and €297/t respectively. Imports are generally less than €10/t over this.

Maize fell €2/t this week to €310/t, so Irish grain is trading below this, which makes it competitive. The drought in Argentina may help to keep supporting this maize price. All of these prices are dried, unless otherwise stated.