Monday Market Briefing - 28th September 2020

At first glance we had more of the same last week, with LIFFE ending £3 higher than the previous week’s close. There was plenty of International market activity to keep things moving. Egypt filled their latest tender with seven cargoes of Russian wheat. With the french missing out on all of this business, this may be why MATIF closed the week quite soft. As a  result, soaring UK prices have suddenly opened up a yawning £7 premium to the French contract. This is the biggest premium we have seen in a long time, and if sustained will drive a fresh wave of UK wheat imports.

Some correction is highly likely and we expect LIFFE to be neutral to lower this week, and ex-farm bids similarly more cautious.

UK millers are dipping back into the markets now for pre-Christmas positions and there are great opportunities to be had for a wide range of wheat varieties and qualities. The same goes for malting barley. We have vessels on berth most weeks now and as the on-farm quality picture slowly clears, there is a large task making sure everything gets directed to its most favourable market.

Have a good week and stay safe.