Trade wars across the globe are affecting markets and grain markets are no different.

Last week, we wrote about maize and how an increase in the area of that crop could cause issues for growers.

Maize remains a watchpoint this week, as with more of this crop comes a possibility of dropping prices and a turn to its inclusion in animals’ diets, instead of barley and wheat.

We also reported last week that the US department of agriculture (USDA) was predicting that about 94m acres of corn will be planted.

Some analysts are placing this figure at 95m acres, according to Reuters.

It is important to remember that this crop is not yet in the ground, let alone harvested.

Brazilian corn production is being reported as steady, while Argentine corn production may drop slightly.

As always, weather will play an important part in the grain markets. There are reports of dry weather in the US and Russia. Wheat will probably be the main crop affected by this.

Talks on the war in Ukraine may also affect grain markets, as this could affect cropping plans and trade.

Oilseed rape prices took a hit this week. Canadian prices are affecting this market. The French oilseed rape price for November closed last Friday at €479.75/t and on Wednesday morning was at €466.75/t.

WASDE report

The USDA’s World Agriculture Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report came out on Tuesday night, so it is difficult to predict how this will affect markets ahead of going to print.

On Wednesday afternoon, French and US markets were generally down, while UK markets were unchanged or down.

In the report, 2024/2025 wheat stocks were reported to be up. Australian wheat production was raised by 2.1m tonnes in the report to 34.1m tonnes, which was reported as its third-largest production on record.

Global coarse grain production for 2024/2025, which includes barley and maize, was forecast up 3.2m tonnes to 1.496bn tonnes.

Production was also reported up in India, Russia and Ukraine.

Native prices

Dried prices for spot barley and wheat were steady this week at €230/t and €240/t, with the possibility of a little bit more.

November prices are trading at similar levels to spot, while maize for that time of year is trading somewhere around or under €230/t, according to reports.

Green harvest prices for 2025 released this week by some placed barley at €195/t and wheat at €205/t.

Keep an eye out for a price offer from Boortmalt this week if you are a supplier.