Wheat prices driven down by sluggish demand and strong pound

Spot feed wheat prices fell in the week to 4 November by £1.20/t to average £103.60/t ex-farm, due to lack of demand and the strong pound against the euro.

According to grain traders, many farmers were holding off selling in expectation of receiving Basic Payments, and with nearby months discounted there was an attractive carry post-Christmas.

With sluggish grain sales, UK exports were running slowly, and Black Sea wheat was very competitive against UK supplies, said the AHDB.

See also: More market prices

However, Ukrainian wheat production could fall in 2016, to 19m tonnes, as drought had left a large area of the winter wheat crop in poor condition.

“This is predicted to lead to a 33% drop in exportable supplies, to 10m tonnes,” the report said.

The European Commission had again raised its 2015-16 EU soft wheat estimate by 4.6m tonnes to 149.2m tonnes, after last year’s record 148.7m tonnes, said a report by grain marketing consultants CRM.

However, European markets were still being boosted by the decline of the euro against the dollar.

EU nations won the latest Egyptian tender in competition with Black Sea grain, with Egypt buying 240,000t of wheat from Europe for December shipment.