Danish grain prices remained steady this week as farmers continued to sit on their feed wheat stocks in the hope of rising prices, while traders predicted price falls to meet export market levels.
Danish feed wheat was valued by traders at around 103 euros per tonne.
"This is not a competitive level, but farmers are simply refusing to sell," one trader said. "They're just closing their eyes and hoping to get better prices later on."
Danish feed wheat is also at a price disadvantage against British wheat, which traders said enjoyed access to lower freight prices.
"So even if Danish grains do approach UK levels, we can't compete with the freight prices UK grains are transported at," one said.
Milling wheat was quoted at 106 euros per tonne, with that price rising to 112 euros at bigger ports. But traders noted German wheat, known for its higher protein levels and therefore superior quality, was also trading at 112.
"So we wouldn't stand a chance on the export markets when they can buy better wheat for the same price," one trader said.
Barley is seen plagued by similar problems, with this year's French barley crop in particular offering stiff competition on the quality front.
Traders said focus was also on news from this year's Australian harvest, where final quality tests have yet to be conducted.
"We just have to wait to see how the Australian quality turns out and this could be very important for the European markets," one trader said.
Barke quality malting barley was quoted at 132-133 euros per tonne for November fob delivery. Prestige - currently a bigger export grain than Barke - was quoted at 127 euros.
Traders said recent export restitution's from Brussels on barley had been welcome but had failed to provide adequate subsidies to support export.
"Everybody is hoping that Brussels may decide to grant restitution's on wheat as well, which could improve the possibilities of exports, but I don't think we'll see anything before the new year," one trader said.
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