Wheat in Australia looks promising

The September wheat contract on the Matif closed yesterday down €2,50 at €192,50 per tonne. Wheat also took a hit on the CBoT during the trading session, closing 7 cents lower at $5.02 per bushel. Corn was also in the red, losing 5 cents to $3.82 per bushel. Soybeans, unlike grains, moved more sideways, limiting their losses to 10.27 cents at $XNUMX per bushel.

An ample supply of wheat remains the prevailing story on the wheat market. Market bureau Ikar raised its harvest forecast for Russia to 86 million tons. This is well above the USDA's estimate of 83,5 million tons. Statistics Canada will release a new harvest forecast for Canada tomorrow. The trader expects the harvest to increase by 1,5 million tons to 35,9 million tons.

Contradictory
In France, wheat quality figures are mixed. The protein content of soft wheat is on the low side. 69% of wheat in France achieves 11% protein or more. The five-year average is 83% of wheat with a protein content of 11% or more, according to figures from FranceAgriMer. The hectoliter weight, on the other hand, is excellent. 93% of the wheat has a hectoliter weight of 76% or higher, compared to 62% in the five-year average. Although FranceAgriMer doesn't elaborate, this could be related to the drought during grain filling. As a result, the crop didn't absorb nitrogen, which is reflected in the protein content.

Now that the wheat harvest in the Northern Hemisphere is well underway, market players are once again focusing more on the Southern Hemisphere. Analysts estimate that the Australian wheat harvest could be significantly closer to last season's harvest, which totaled 34,1 million tons. Abares, the Australian Department of Agriculture's economic and statistical agency, will release a new crop forecast next week. In its June edition, Abares forecasted 30,6 million tons. Analysts expect this to be revised significantly upwards.