Rapid US wheat harvest fails to move prices

The grains market is struggling to find direction. In Paris, the futures market came under pressure from strong European harvest expectations, while Chicago is cautiously recovering after the recent price pressure. Good crop conditions in France and a possible record harvest in Romania are weighing on the Matif. On the other hand, bargain buying is providing some support on the CBoT.The September wheat contract on the Matif closed yesterday €1.50 lower at €199.75 per tonne. On the CBoT, wheat closed 5¼ cents higher at $5.86¾ per bushel. Maize also closed in the green with a gain of 2¾ cents to $4.15½ per bushel. Soybeans were 5¾ cents higher at $11.19¼ per bushel.Reports of good crop conditions in Europe are putting pressure on prices on the Paris exchange. FranceAgriMer said last Friday that 77% of the wheat in France is in good or excellent condition. A week earlier that was 76%, and last year at this time it stood at 70%. Warm and dry conditions, particularly in southern France, appear to have had little impact on wheat development, the figures from FranceAgriMer suggest.Record wheat harvest RomaniaArgus Media predicts that Romania could bring in a record wheat harvest this summer. Total output is estimated at 13.86 million tonnes following the crop tour the company conducted in Romania in early June. Argus is counting on a record yield of 5.9 tonnes per hectare on an area of 2.35 million hectares. To achieve this exceptionally high yield by Romanian standards, there still needs to be some rain at regular intervals until harvest and there must be no storm damage. Romanian growers are less positive about rapeseed. The crop has recovered, but because sowing was late the rapeseed harvest is not expected to break records, Argus says.The deal between the US and Iran over the opening of the Strait of Hormuz put pressure on oil prices. On the exchange in Chicago, grains did not follow oil lower. In fact, prices were edging slightly higher. There is no clear reason for the cautious rise. Some analysts see it as a technical rebound after recent losses.The winter wheat harvest in the US is in any case progressing well. A quarter of the area has now been harvested, according to the new Crop Progress report from the USDA published yesterday. Last year at this time that was 9%, and the five-year average stands at 13% harvested. In Texas, wheat growers are furthest along with 75% harvested. The condition of winter wheat there has also improved slightly, with 27% of the area rated good or excellent compared with 25% last week.Conditions for spring grains improved this week. Of the spring wheat area, 55% is rated good or excellent compared with 52% last week. For barley that is 47% good or excellent this week versus 40% last week, and for oats it is 52% this week versus 47% last week.Corn planting is now complete and 94% of the corn has emerged. Sixty-eight per cent of the corn is rated good or excellent compared with 67% last week. US farmers are in the final phase of planting soybeans. Of the planned area, 95% is in the ground. Crop conditions also improved slightly, with 66% rated good or excellent versus 65% last week.In Brazil, harvesting of the second-crop maize is progressing. AgRural reports that as of last Thursday 8.4% of the Safrinha maize harvest had been brought in, compared with 5.2% at the same time last year. In Mato Grosso the harvest is furthest along. In the other states, the high moisture levels in the maize mean the combines still have to wait a little longer, according to AgRural.