Firming £ hits wheat
24 October 1997
Firming £ hits wheat
WHEAT markets took a battering this week, slipping back to just £80/t as one bit of bad news followed another.
With chancellor Gordon Brown hinting that the UK will not join the single currency during the life of this parliament, sterling firmed strongly, reaching 2.92DM mid-week, compared with 2.84DM a week ago, damaging export competitiveness.
Limited export subsidies at last weeks tender in Brussels, a higher than expected crop estimate of 15.13m tonnes from MAFF, and news of a recovery in the Australian crop in the run-up to harvest added to the pressure, taking £3/t off UK prices. *
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