Egypt surprised the market with a second major wheat tender this week. It is mainly Russia that benefits from this. Ukraine finally received another windfall in terms of grain exports. Romania will make efforts to further increase transshipment capacity in Constanta. In Brazil the weather continues to plague soy growers and in the US the trade is preparing for the Wasde report.
The March wheat contract on the Matif remained unchanged yesterday at €232 per tonne. On the CBoT, the March contract rose 1,4% to $6.42¼ per bushel. Soy showed a similar move, gaining 1,3% to $13.11¾ per bushel. Corn also took a step higher in Chicago, rising 0,8% to $4.88 per bushel.
Egypt has again secured a large batch of wheat in a tender. At the beginning of this week, it concerned a tender of 180.000 tons, one third of which will be supplied by Ukraine and two thirds by Russia. Yesterday it was announced that state buyer Gasc has purchased another 420.000 tons of wheat. This tender would largely be filled with wheat from Russia. The Russian registration was at $260 FOB by normal payment term or $265 by letter of credit. Registrations from sellers outside Russia were between $268 and $275 per tonne FOB.
Romania wants to further increase the transhipment capacity for grain from Ukraine in the port of Constanta. The goal is to ship up to 4 million tons every four months, Romanian Transport Minister Sorin Grindeanu said yesterday. Last October, a record amount of 3 million tons of grain was processed. But there is room to further increase transshipment, according to the minister. For example, with financial assistance from the EU, a project has been set up to enable round-the-clock sailing on one of the access channels to Constanta. Romania's efforts are a boost for Ukraine in the country's grain export difficulties, including reduced access to the Black Sea and problems with land routes via Poland.
The Brazilian agency Conab has adjusted the yield forecast for soy downwards. Conab expects 160,18 million tons of soy to be threshed compared to 162,42 million tons in the November forecast. The reason for the smaller harvest is the delay in sowing and this is related to the El Niño weather pattern. Until December 2, 83,1% of the planned soy area was in the ground compared to 90,7% last season. For corn, Conab expects a harvest total of 118,53 million tons. Last season, 131,95 million tons of corn were threshed in Brazil.
The trade at the CBoT is taking positions in anticipation of the Wasde report that will be released tonight Dutch time. What the USDA's accountants come up with is of course and will remain a surprise as always, but given the movement on the CBoT, the trade does not seem to assume that stocks will be adjusted upwards.