Friday grain market update: Thursday price gains under immediate pressure

News of wheat planting difficulties in parts of South America altered market sentiment during trading on Thursday, giving some welcome upward momentum to markets after more than a week of declines.

Futures prices for wheat, maize and rape on both the Paris and Chicago exchanges increased across the board in light of the news from South America. Prior to this, market prices had been weighed on by larger than expected wheat harvests from major producing countries.

Europe

On the Euronext exchange (MATIF) in Paris, futures prices for December 2015 wheat increased marginally to just over €178/t. December 2016 wheat fared better, increasing by almost €1/t to over €187/t.

MATIF maize prices were also up, with prices for November 2015 maize up almost €1/t to 176/t, while December 2016 increased by a similar amount to finish Thursday’s trade just under €179/t.

Rape prices also showed improvement. November 2015 rape futures were up by almost €2/t to finish trade at more than €364/t, while November 2016 rape prices were ahead by €2/t to settle at just over €350/t.

However, the gains made during Thursday’s trade appear to be in reverse on Friday, with prices once again in decline for wheat, maize and rape.

Chicago

On the Chicago exchange, CBOT, prices for SRW wheat and maize also made some positive gains during Thursday’s trade.

Futures prices for December 2015 SRW wheat were up by more $0.10/bu to finish the day on $5.11/bu (€166/t), while prices for December 2016 SRW wheat were up by a similar amount to $5.40/bu (€176/t).

Chicago prices for maize have been firmer than other commodities over the past week as many farmers in key maize-growing locations in the US do not share the same view of the latest yields forecasted by the USDA.

During Thursday’s trade, prices for December 2015 maize increased slightly to finish on more than $3.82/bu (€133/t), while December 2016 prices were also up marginally to over $4/bu (€140/t).

However, just as in Paris, all of Thursday’s gains were in reverse during Friday's trade in Chicago.