Frontrunner - 22nd December 2023

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WHEAT

• World markets flat

World wheat futures markets are drifting into the festive period, with little change in value but trading above the season's lows.

There has been no shortage of international trade, however, with Saudi Arabia buying 1.3 million tonnes and Egypt securing 480,000 tonnes in the week before Christmas. The problem for global exporters is Russia being the most competitive seller and taking all the business once again.

In the meantime, there's been little improvement in official data from Brussels tracking EU wheat exports. These remain 2.5 million tonnes behind last year, with 13.985 million tonnes shipped from a surplus in the range of 32-37 million tonnes.

The Southern Hemisphere's primary wheat exporter, Australia, is experiencing better than expected yields, with crop estimates moving up to 28 million tonnes, adding to the readily available world wheat supply. Although this estimate is still down on last year's record, pre-harvest analysts were estimating four million tonnes less.

• Mixed fortunes for 2024 East vs. West

Heavy rain and flooding have hampered winter wheat planting in France as well as the UK. The latest estimates from analysts see the French wheat area down 11% on the year - the smallest area since 2000. In contrast to the UK, this will not leave a deficit but will result in a smaller surplus with a high carry out from the 2023 season.

BARLEY

• Barley continues to come forward late into December

Farmers were active in the market at the start of this week, having sold much more this year during the week before Christmas compared to the same period in 2022.

Supply has remained constant through the season and the market has begun to accept that tonnages continue to flow unhindered from Black Sea areas into Europe and beyond. This is due to novel supply routes being developed when others were more restricted - as a result we continue to see price pressure, particularly on barley given high stocks.

Barley is trading around £25/t under wheat, with the widest discounts seen in the north of the country. This has not helped the UK's export competitiveness, which currently sits around 40% behind last year.

• New crop barley competitive vs wheat

A similar story is developing in new crop feed barley. New crop discounts to wheat are relatively wide for this time of year – roughly £21-23/t nationally. This is causing domestic demand to keep a bid under feed, prohibiting prices from falling to export parity for now.

OILSEED RAPE

• Rapeseed markets quiet

After a flurry of farm selling and crusher buying in previous weeks, rapeseed is now truly in holiday mode. There has been a distinct lack of both farmer selling and crusher cover this week, as both parties look to have fulfilled trading requirements into the early new year period.

Rapeseed oil prices have also been subject to some pressure recently. Now priced well below €900/t, the EU is making efforts to block Chinese biodiesel imports from being 'dumped' in Europe. If successful, this would theoretically boost demand for some domestic veg-oils.

 PULSES

The bean market continues to experience low levels of participation in the run up to Christmas.However, traded values have still managed to increase on the week due to the lack of liquidity and last-minute requirements coming from some consumers.

The outlook for next year remains the same - strong demand is expected to continue from domestic feed compounders, a lack of competitive protein crop alternatives in the market until the summer months and the conclusion of the human consumption trade for the UK.

Please speak to your local Frontier contact or email us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for more information or advice related to any of the topics and services mentioned in this report.

Our market insights will resume in the new year from 5^th January. In the meantime, we hope you have a great festive break and wish you all the best for a prosperous 2024.