Wheat rise puts spot price at £150/t ex farm

Wheat prices rose by £4.50/t today as London’s November futures hit £165/t delivered, putting ex-farm prices for September at £150-153/t depending on the area.

The latest increase is on the back of a rally in US prices at the end of last week after UK markets closed. This in turn was because of early concern over the size of the US maize harvest, which is just beginning.

A US Department of Agriculture report on world grain supply and demand is due out at the end of this week and the trade is thought to have anticipated a change in the maize figures.

With merchants and co-ops getting a good idea of UK crop quality, exports are leading the way and we are very competitive against the French, with UK wheat having been at a £30/t discount. Some of that gap was closed today as our market improved but the French market moved by less than £1/t.

Further ahead, feed wheat today was worth £153-156/t ex-farm for October and £157-160/tfor November.