As May progresses grain prices have continued to gain from those seen at the start of the month.
The latest AHDB Grain Market Report sees new crop futures (Nov-24) at £217.95/t, at the end of April it stood at under £190/t. Go back earlier in the year and prices are up by over £40/t.
Supply versus demand concerns and weather risks to new crop keeping prices firm. Early projections from the USDA show global wheat demand exceeding production by over 4 Mt. Wheat production is forecast to rise 10.5 Mt year-on-year due to recoveries in output for Australia and Kazakhstan, plus rises for the US and Canada. However, this would still not be enough to meet demand, which is up 2.0 Mt to 802.3 Mt.
The USDA raised concerns over US yield forecasts not being quite as high as first forecast while Russian commentators have cut yield projections by 1%.
The AHDB is advising growers to keep a close eye on markets as prices could move either way.
Paris rapeseed futures (Nov-24) went slightly the other way, currently standing at €483.50/t. European rapeseed markets followed US soyabean prices down yesterday. US soyabeans were pressured after the National Oilseed Processors Association (NOPA) reported that soyabean crushing fell to a seven-month low in April.
