Grain prices stayed steady at home this week. Some global markets had a temporary rise on Monday, but fell once again on Tuesday 16 May to return to the region of last week’s prices.

On Friday, Matif wheat for December finished at €238.75/t. This increased to €243.75/t on Monday, but declined on Tuesday to €239/t.

In the UK, feed wheat for November was at £197.35/t (€227/t) on Tuesday evening, having hit £194.75/t on Thursday last.

There is plenty going on to affect markets at present, so it’s hard to say what caused the spike or the drop.

WASDE report

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report came out on Friday 12 May.

It forecast record global wheat and maize crops for the 2023/2024 season. This is not adding any optimism to the market on prices.

Global wheat production was estimated at 789.8 million tonnes in this month’s report.

It also stated that global supplies are forecast lower and use is also forecast down.

However, in the US, the 2023/2024 outlook is for lower supplies and only slightly larger production, with increased domestic use.

Global maize production and use were forecast to increase in the report and could hit record highs due to increases in production in the US, Argentina, the EU, China and Serbia, according to the report.

Global oilseed production is forecast up 43.8 million tonnes in the report to 671.2 million tonnes.

This increase is mainly due to higher soya bean production for South America and the United States, as well as higher sunflower seed production for the EU and higher rapeseed production for the EU and Canada.

Black Sea grain initiative

The Black Sea grain initiative was extended for two months on Wednesday 17 May. Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that an agreement had been reached between officials from Russia and Ukraine.

Almost 30.29 million tonnes of grain, sunflower meal, oil and other products have been shipped under the initiative so far, according to the UN.

Native prices

Tirlán stayed the same on its offers for harvest 2023 this week at €193/t for green barley and €203/t for green wheat before any co-op bonuses are added in.

Spot barley is trading at around €235/t, while wheat is at about €250/t, both down on the previous week. Prices for November are around €5/t and €10/t under these prices respectively.