The wheat quotation on the Matif continues last week's trend. When the market closed on Friday, March 4, the question was whether the March contract was too high or the May contract too low. There was a clear answer to that.
The March contract closed on Friday March 4 at €393,75 and the May contract at €371,75 per tonne. However, with the expiration of the March contract, those prices should come together. That happened this morning. The May contract opened at €400,50 per tonne. That is €0,50 higher than the March contract opened on March 4. In the first hours of the trading day, the quotation rose further, to a high of €412,50 per tonne. At the time of writing this article, the price is €410,25 per tonne, an increase of more than 10% compared to the closing price before the weekend.
New harvest is also increasing further
The contracts for the new harvest also show a significant increase. The September contract stands at €340,50 per tonne. That is an increase of 7,75% compared to the previous closing price. The contract for May 2023 is now also above €300 per tonne, at €313,75 per tonne, an increase of 6%. The wheat listing on the CBoT in Chicago shows a similar picture. Once again, wheat prices (with an increase of approximately 7%) are rubbing against the daily limit used on the American stock exchange.
The Chinese Ministry of Agriculture delivered bad news about the condition of winter wheat. Reuters news agency reports that the wheat situation in the Asian country is the worst ever. Rain in the fall has significantly delayed sowing of about 33% of the area. Yet the Chinese minister, Tang Renjian, has high hopes for the grain crops. "The policy is well put together, there is technical support and development and the weather is improving." A top harvest is feasible for summer grains, the minister reports.