Grain prices in ports have stabilized: corn — $229, wheat — $222 CPT Odesa

According to the results of the last week of May, the physical grain market reacted to external pressure more restrainedly than the stock exchange.

Export prices for grain in Ukrainian ports ended the week almost unchanged, despite a noticeable drop on world exchanges. Such data is provided by Spike Brokers.

Thus, corn CPT Odesa was recorded at $229/ton. During the week, deals and indications appeared briefly at $232–233/ton, but by the end of the week prices returned lower by $3–4.

At the same time, the external background for buyers worsened. The correction in the oil sector reduced the energy premium for corn, and the start of the safrinha harvest (ed.: the second corn harvest in Brazil in the season) and active Argentine exports intensified competition for summer supplies. CBOT futures for July fell to 447 c/bu (-15 c/bu for the week).

Wheat felt stronger pressure from stock exchange quotations. CBOT futures for July fell to 610.4 c/bu, Euronext for September – to 207.50 €/t.

The Ukrainian physical market saw more moderate results: food wheat 11.5pro – $222/t (-$2 per week), feed wheat – $218/t (-$1). The spread between qualities remains narrow – only $4/t. Additional pressure on the market is exerted by the approaching harvest in the USA and the deterioration of the condition of winter wheat to 26% in the good/excellent category.

The export structure in May was dominated by large buyers from North Africa and the Middle East. Egypt and Algeria together took more than half of the wheat volume – 421.6 thousand tons and 331.2 thousand tons, respectively. In corn, the undisputed leader is Turkey with 769.2 thousand tons out of a total of 2.111 million tons for May 1–28.

Also, as USM recently reported, ships with cargo to Ukraine are facing delays due to new rules at Sulina.