Andrey Sizov
12.09.2024
On Wednesday, wheat prices continued to strengthen. The December SRW wheat contract closed at $5.79/bu ($213/mt), up 0.9% from Tuesday. The December HRW wheat contract in Kansas rose to $5.88/bu ($216/mt), up 0.7%. The December Euronext wheat contract closed at €223.00/mt ($246/mt), up 1.4%. The December US corn contract closed at $4.05/bu ($159/mt), up 0.1%.
As of September 11, Russia’s total grain harvest reached 97 million tons, of which 72 million tons were wheat, reported Minister of Agriculture Oksana Lut. According to her, grain crops have been harvested from 33 million hectares, accounting for around 70% of the planted area.
Minister Oksana Lut announced that the Russian Ministry of Agriculture kept its grain export forecast for the 2024/25 season at 60 million tons. The grain harvest estimate remains at 132 million tons.
According to the Rosario Grain Exchange, Argentina’s soybean area for the 2024/25 season is expected to reach 17.7 million hectares, 7.5% more than the previous season. The soybean crop is estimated at 52-53 million tons. The corn area for the 2024/25 season is forecasted at 8 million hectares, a 21% decrease from the previous year, with an estimated production of 51-52 million tons. The reduction in corn planting is attributed to dry weather and concerns about the spread of spiroplasma bacteria carried by leafhoppers.
As of September 11, Ukraine had exported 8.2 million tons of grain in the 2024/25 season, compared to 5.4 million tons a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Agrarian Policy. In September, 0.9 million tons of grain were shipped, compared to 0.8 million tons in the same period last year.
The Ukrainian farm producers union expects a larger decline in the 2024 corn harvest than the Ministry of Agrarian Policy predicts. The Union estimates corn losses due to dry and hot weather could reach 8-9 million tons, with a projected harvest of 24 million tons. The Ministry forecasts a minimum of 25 million tons.
European traders reported that Algeria’s state agency ONAB announced an international tender to purchase about 160,000 tons of corn and 35,000 tons of feed barley.
