EU Grains Recover A Bit Of Lost Ground

13/01/14 -- EU grains closed mostly firmer in a rebound from hitting fresh lows on Friday.

Jan 14 London wheat ended GBP1.05/tonne higher at GBP155.55/tonne, and Nov 14 rose GBP1.75/tonne to GBP147.00/tonne. Mar 14 Paris wheat finished was up EUR2.00/tonne to EUR195.00/tonne, Mar 14 Paris corn rose EUR2.25/tonne to EUR173.75/tonne, whilst Feb 14 Paris rapeseed jumped EUR4.00/tonne to EUR360.25/tonne.

Support came from news that Egypt's GASC was back in to buy wheat over the weekend, even if it wasn't EU wheat that they it bought. GASC ended up buying just one 55 TMT US SRW wheat cargo at around USD20/tonne cheaper than the best offered French cargo (although that was only around $6/tonne lower than French wheat when freight was added on).

Ukraine said that it had shipped 19.85 MMT of grains up to the Jan 10 period, a 34% rise on a year ago. That included 6.9 MMT of wheat, 2.05 MMT of barley and 10.7 MMT of corn.

Russia said that it had exported 16.384 MMT of grains in a similar period, up 26% on a year ago.

Worries that the FSU could be hit by suddenly sub-zero temperatures after an unseasonably mild spell have been downplayed by Martell Crop Projections.

"Crop watchers worried that Russia wheat exposed to abnormally mild winter temperatures may be subject to winterkill in a cold outbreak this week. However, the updated forecast is not as threatening for bitter cold this week.

"Moreover, a fresh wave of snow is predicted ahead of the cold wave that would insulate fields. Saratov, a key wheat area in the Volga, is expecting -1 F (-18 C) Saturday morning, at least 5 degrees up from earlier expectations," they say.

The French government said that Dec 1st grain stocks were 20.3 MMT versus 24.8 MMT a year ago, including 10.5 MMT of wheat (from 11.7 MMT a year ago) and 5.0 MMT of corn (versus 6.5 MMT a year ago).

Morocco bought 180 TMT of wheat locally.

Friday's USDA numbers included a 200 TMT downgrade to the UK 2013 wheat crop to 11.9 MMT.

The Buenos Aires Grain Exchange said that the Argentine wheat harvest is 98% complete versus 84.3% a week ago. The Argentine Ministry said that the harvest is finished.