EU Market Update And A Late Football Score Just In

12/08/15 -- EU grains trade mostly lower, with the market nervously awaiting this afternoon's USDA WASDE report.

At noon, the sole green on the board comes from Nov 15 London wheat which is GBP0.25/tonne higher at GBP119.50/tonne. Sep 15 Paris wheat is down EUR0.50/tonne at EUR178.00/tonne, Nov 15 Paris corn is EUR1.50/tonne easier at EUR183.50/tonne, whilst Aug 15 Paris rapeseed is down EUR2.50/tonne at EUR380.00/tonne.

The euro is up on news of (another) Greek bailout deal having been agreed in principal.

Russia's Deputy PM said that the country will harvest 100 MMT "or more" grain this year, pegging export potential at 25-27 MMT.

He said that there were no plans to introduce a limit on exports, but that the government are considering altering the way that the current duty on wheat is calculated. That could speed up exports, which for wheat were down more than half year-on-year in July at only 1.28 MMT. The harvest there is currently around 40% complete.

In Ukraine, where the early grain harvest (which excludes corn) is already just about over, they've produced a crop of 35.7 MMT so far out of a anticipated final harvest estimate of 60 MMT from the Ag Ministry.

With domestic consumption forecast at the level of 24 MMT, that leaves 36 MMT left over for export or as free stock. Carryover levels from 2014/15 were already pretty high, so most if not all of that should bet exported, which would beat even last season's record volume.

Agritel forecast Ukraine's corn production potential this year is 26 MMT, although they note than recent 35C+ temperatures have come during grain fill time, which may take the shine off final yields.

In Kazakhstan the 2015 harvest is only just getting going, at 5.5% complete on 817k ha, producing a crop of 1.34 MMT to date.

Fine weather across much of the UK these past few days means that many should have made good progress with the domestic harvest. Where to store it all is the problem that many will now be facing, especially those still carrying stock from last year as well.

Current ex farm prices don't look too tempting that's for sure, but that doesn't mean that they won't and can't go even lower.

Rain is back in the forecast for much of the UK by the weekend, and indeed for most of the continent too. The 15-day forecast is wetter than normal for pretty much the whole of Europe. Yes it is mid-August. Dryness will return as soon as the kids go back to school I am reliably informed.

After the USDA report tonight, tomorrow brings the final English planting area estimates from Defra. Right in the middle of the harvest they are finally going to tell us how much got planted last autumn. Nice one, Defra. Meanwhile Russia and Ukraine can tell us how advanced the harvest is, what's been produced so far, what the average yield is and what he tractor driver's name was (it was Yuri by the way) on a daily basis.

OK, they are sometimes just making it up, but that's not the point.

So, just for Defra, here is a late football score just in: England 4 West Germany 2.

Some people are on the pitch, they think it's all over....