Futures Close Report 26th July

The condition of French soft wheat and grain maize crops remained unchanged in the week to July 22, with 71 percent of crops rated good or excellent for both grains according to FranceAgrimer.

• International Grains Council Crop Forecast:
  • EU wheat crop was seen at 139.9 million tonnes, down from a previous projection of 147.3 million, with forecasts for the top four producers in the trading bloc, France, Germany, Britain and Poland, all revised down;
  • World wheat was cut by 16 million tonnes to 721 million tonnes – the lowest since 2013./ 14.  Global wheat stocks were forecast to fall to a two-year low of 247 million tonnes;
  • IGC kept its forecast for world corn (maize) production in 2018/19 at 1.052 billion tonnes, slightly above the prior season’s 1.044 billion, but a second successive global deficit was expected with consumption seen at 1.098 billion.

US Wheat Quality Council’s crop tour forecast an average spring wheat yield of 41.1 bushels per acre (bpa), up from the tour’s forecast of 38.1 bpa in 2017 but below its prior five-year average of 45.4 bpa.