Delivered markets focus on old-crop – HGCA

MARKETS saw strong interest amid ongoing difficulties in sourcing spot grain.

Old-crop delivered feed wheat prices ended the week around 3 higher from week ago values, now in the high-80/t to low-90/t. New-crop feed wheat firmed 1. LIFFE old-crop wheat ended around 2 higher.

Last week also saw around 350 lots of new-crop options traded, all for November and March. Premiums were generally around 2 to 2.50/t, with some further out of the money options traded at around 1.20.

LIFFE July wheat futures have moved nearly 4 higher since the beginning of May. However, this move has not been independent of other EU grain prices.

MATIF wheat futures have moved up 4/t, and maize futures 3/t over the same period.

Expressed in euros, July LIFFE wheat gained 7.50/t over the same period.

FORECAST UK wheat use this season was revised up 123,000 tonnes to 13.37m tonnes in the May revisions to UK supply and demand. Barley usage was revised up 49,000 tonnes.