EU Wheat Ends Higher

EU wheat futures closed modestly higher in a relatively low volume day with Paris March milling wheat ended up EUR1.25 at EUR151.25/tonne. London May feed wheat closed up GBP0.85 at GBP119.25/tonne.

On the export front Iraq bought 350,000mt Canadian, Australian, German and Russian wheat, whilst Tunisia bought 50,000mt of any origin milling wheat from Bunge.

The trade is garnering some encouragement from any export business at the moment, no matter where it comes from.

There are concerns over weather in China and the US which may adversely affect production there.

Whilst global stocks are rather burdensome for now, the jury is still out on the eventual size of the world 2009 crop, with estimates I've seen recently ranging from 625-662mmt, compared to 682mmt in 2008.

Current estimates include: USA 61.9mmt (from 68.0); Russia 53.6mmt (63); EU-27 140.50mmt (150.50); China 100mmt (112.5); Ukraine 20mmt (25.5); Canada 25.2mmt (28.6) - that lot alone takes almost 50mmt of production off the table coming to 401.2mmt from 448.1mmt a year ago.

The USDA will issue revised world production estimates tomorrow at 13.30GMT.