Global influences continued to dominate domestic grain prices last week as tumbling global grain markets pressure domestic values.
Benchmark US wheat futures plummeted by 8 per cent after the USDA revealed US farmers had planted more wheat than initially forecast. Hard red winter wheat futures hit 10 year lows last week.
An extensive survey conducted by the USDA showed 2016 US wheat plantings are 7pc down on last year, but the report showed farmers had planted 365,000 more hectares than earlier estimates.
Bumper US winter wheat yields added to last week’s price pressure. Farmers through the key hard red winter wheat areas have been reporting huge yields and forecasters are starting to lift their production estimates accordingly. One well respected private forecaster raised its estimate for the 2016 US wheat crop to 60.3 million tonnes, sharply larger than the USDA’s current 56.5 million tonnes and last year’s 55.9 million, despite the 7pc decline in plantings.
European and Black Sea wheat markets declined with the softer US markets.
Forecasts for the world wheat crop are getting bigger and bigger. The International Grains Council raised its forecast 2016/17 global wheat harvest by 7 million tonnes from last month to 729 million tonnes, only modestly below last year’s record large harvest.
Global feed grain prices were also well down last week. US corn futures lost 8pc on the back of bearish USDA data. The planting survey showed US farmers seeded more corn than expected while corn feeding in the March to May quarter was lower than expected.
The bearish US inputs saw traders lower buying ideas into Brisbane, Central Queensland and the Darling Downs. Darling Downs stockfeed wheat fell by $3 to $268, with traders short covering lending support. Larger declines were seen in Brisbane.
Sorghum values into Darling Downs markets fell by $10 to $225 delivered, as the price of US sorghum plunged.
Chickpea prices remain scarce, with many buyers sitting back until more is known about the Indian crop. Old crop chickpeas are still bid at $1300 into the Darling Downs while new crop are bid at $985.
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