Monday Market Briefing - 3rd August 2026

Wheat came under pressure towards the end of last week, markets think the Black Sea situation will follow a similar path to the Iran one, namely that economic necessity will eventually prevail and shipments resume. It’s a fragile premise to say the least, but bulls are not confident to take us higher just now.  Ukraine is apparently poised to announce measures taken to diversify their own exporting routes which if true might dampen things again this week.

Harvest is pretty much done in the south as the first week of August arrives. With literally no harvest pressure it will be an unusual month in trading terms – store filling markets will be active throughout alongside consumer activity as well so there should be plenty to look at with your sample results in front of you. For wheat it is an exceptionally high protein year across all grades and also an odd combination of high bushel weights but low yields. Group 1’s look as good as we would normally expect German E wheats to be- which might make German imports unattractive this year and ultimately support that market.  Spring barley is very variable and its going to be quite a challenge sorting that crop out. Nitrogens are all over the place and retentions the lowest we‘ve seen in a while meaning some samples are destined for what will be a hungry feed market.

Have a good week.