Volatile grain market drives up wheat price in Paris

The wheat prices on the futures market in Paris have picked up again today. Just before noon, the prices are €3 per ton higher than yesterday. This indicates that there is currently quite a bit of activity in the market. The war in Iran and the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz have brought stormy developments in price formation on the oil market. And in the shadow of that, the wheat trade is also benefiting. In a very volatile market, the futures markets are currently showing larger fluctuations than we have been accustomed to in the past period. Whereas the wheat market in Paris stuck to a price level of around €190 per ton for a long time, we now see prices around €207 per ton. Prices have increased significantly in three weeks. In Chicago, we have seen a similar development. This was reinforced by a rising dollar exchange rate, causing the prices converted to euros to go up slightly more. At the moment when the dollar was at its lowest - late January - wheat was traded in Chicago for barely more than €160 per ton. Prices have now risen close to €190 per ton. On Monday, the stormy developments in the oil market led to a test of a level just above €200 per ton. On Tuesday, the market fell back slightly. At the peak, the wheat price in Chicago shot up to $6.41¾ per bushel on Monday. By the end of the day, the quotation remained just above $6 per bushel. On Tuesday, the exchange closed a bit lower at $5.91 per bushel for the May contract. The publication of the new WASDE report from the United States Department of Agriculture had little impact on this. The outcomes for wheat held no surprises for traders, hence there was hardly any reaction. The figures from the United States remained exactly the same as the previous publication in February. This meant that traders hardly paid attention to this report as well. On a global scale, there was hardly any revision of the forecasts. The estimate of the end stock in June this year is fractionally revised downwards, but remains the highest in five years.