Heat costs German grain farmers 10 million euros per day

It remains unsettled in the grain market. Russia and Ukraine are stepping up attacks on each other's grain infrastructure and that does not go unnoticed in the export figures. The US Department of Agriculture came with the Wasde report. For wheat, the tone was cautiously bullish, but in maize there is quite a bit going on. The cooperative association DRV has calculated what the warm and dry weather has cost German arable farmers. The September wheat contract on the Matif closed yesterday €7.25 higher at €220.50 per tonne. On the CBoT, wheat closed 22½ cents higher at $6.52¾ per bushel. Maize also finished well in the green, up 20¼ cents to $4.57 per bushel. Soybeans lagged slightly behind the grains with a gain of 1.5% or 17¼ cents to $11.64¾ per bushel. A major drone attack on the Russian deep-sea port of Novorossiysk played a major role in the rise in wheat on the Paris exchange. Reportedly, two major grain terminals in the port are at a standstill. Russia launched its counterattack overnight. Several sources report that Russia attacked the area around Reni and Izmajil. The port of Izmajil is important for Ukraine for grain exports via the Danube. Export The attacks on each other's ports are also reflected in exports. In July, the Ukrainian port of Odessa handled 159 ships compared with about 400 in the same month a year earlier. From 1 to 12 August, Ukraine exported 280,000 tonnes of grain compared with 1.15 million tonnes last year in the period from 1 to 15 August. Among others, news agency Reuters reported this afternoon that Ukraine, via a third party, has made a proposal to the Kremlin to stop the attacks on civilian targets in the Black Sea. Sources say that Kiev is still waiting for a response from Moscow. USDA reasonably optimistic about wheat The USDA came out with the Wasde report yesterday and in it the US department is very cautious about adjusting the export forecast for wheat from Russia and Ukraine. The USDA lowers the export forecast for the two countries by 2.5 million tonnes. For the EU, the USDA expects more wheat to be used in feed and other applications. That is mainly because the maize harvest in the EU is likely to disappoint. As an alternative, wheat is partly used according to the USDA. Global wheat production in season 2026/27 has been lowered by 670,000 tonnes compared with the July report to 819.3 million tonnes. Due to a substantial adjustment to the opening stock, the total amount of wheat available this marketing year has been increased by 500,000 tonnes to 1,099.5 million tonnes. Wheat consumption has been raised by 110,000 tonnes to 826.27 million tonnes. The ending stocks of wheat are estimated 400,000 tonnes higher than in July at 273.25 million tonnes. The wheat harvest in the US is now estimated at 1.531 billion bushels compared with 1.536 in July. According to some analysts, the USDA is therefore on the optimistic side about the wheat harvest in the US. For maize, the Wasde report was more bullish in tone. With an estimated ending stock of 1.65 billion bushels, the USDA has made a substantial downward adjustment there. In July, the USDA was still counting on an ending stock of 1.79 billion bushels. Drought and heat in Germany Closer to home in Germany, the association of cooperatives DRV is sounding the alarm about the damage caused by this summer's heat in arable farming. The 60 days of heat from June until the end of the grain harvest cost about €10 million per day, writes Guido Seedler, grain market expert at DRV. According to calculations by the DRV, around three million tonnes of grain and rapeseed have been lost since mid-June due to the heat. That means a loss in turnover of more than €600 million, according to Seedler. For this season, DRV expects a grain harvest in Germany of 40.6 million tonnes. Last year, about 45 million tonnes of grain were harvested in Germany and the five-year average stands at 42.5 million tonnes.