More grain price pressure on harvest estimates

Grain prices came under further pressure this week as harvest estimates rose again.

Farmers Weekly’s spot ex-farm feed wheat price averaged £102.8/t on Wednesday (17 Sept) compared with £106.8/t a week earlier.

The high proportion of feed wheat in Europe, the continued strength of the pound and the latest US Department of Agriculture (USDA) report all combined to continue the negative tone.

See also: Relentless pressure weakens grain prices further

French wheat quality figures showing that less than half of the crop made 220 Hagberg compared with the more usual 99% reinforced the high proportion of feed wheat from the 2014 harvest.

Global wheat production was revised higher by 3.9m tonnes in the USDA figures, mainly because of higher production in the EU (up 3.1m tonnes to 150.9m tonnes) and Ukraine (up 2m tonnes to 24m tonnes).

World demand for wheat is also expected to rise by 3.2m tonnes to 710m tonnes but this is not enough to offset the increase in production.

World maize output is expected to rise slightly to 987.52m tonnes, with US production up 2.6% to a record 365.7m tonnes on higher yields. However, this will be largely offset by a drop in Chinese output because of drought.