Monday Market Briefing - 27th April

Shipping Activity: MV Fri Ocean loading 2,500 MT Milling Oats - Shoreham

Last week’s briefing asked whether market selling would spill over from the previous week and push down through long term support levels. That was emphatically answered as we ended the week £7/MT higher with buyers looking again to weather concerns. We think the market is now tightly ‘range-bound’; Nov20 LIFFE at £165-£167 seems to be the middle ground and is the price the market repeatedly returns to. This typically happens when the market is waiting to learn the real impact of a weather threat to supply – a sharp move either way can be expected when this becomes known.

Old crop looks pretty sorted now, with buyers adjusting their requirements around lockdown-impacted supply chains. Some good opportunities have appeared in our milling wheat markets for most grades and these are likely to fill up quite quickly. Speak to us about values for the remaining old crop positions. Malting barley trade has seized-up on old crop, but some interest for Oct-Dec 2020 emerged last week, an encouraging sign for malting barley markets going forward.

Have a good week and stay safe. 

Bartholomews Grain Marketing Team