At the end of the previous week, the bears took the lead and caused losses in wheat contracts on the CBoT. The March contract lost 4.75 US cents and settled at 564.75 US cents/bushel. On the other US exchanges, wheat contracts also slipped into the red. Trading was characterized by a firm US dollar and profit-taking. The US dollar index reached its highest level in two years, which impaired the competitiveness of US wheat and thus also had a dampening effect on trading. So far, 10.7 million tons of wheat have been exported for the current season, which is below the expectations of most market participants. The tense situation in the Ukraine war and increased fighting also caused unrest on the stock markets shortly before the weekend. The Ukrainian president reported considerable damage to port facilities caused by Russian attacks since the middle of last year. According to observers, the latest missile attacks from Ukraine on Russia in particular could result in heavy Russian retaliatory strikes in the coming weeks.
According to initial results, the field work on the French areas is continuing apace. By November 18, 90 percent of the planned areas had been cultivated, which corresponds to an increase of 12 percentage points compared to the previous week. At this time last year, only 73 percent of the areas had been planted. Unfavorable weather conditions, particularly in September and October, meant that work started later than usual. In the meantime, the five-year average of 87 percent has been exceeded. In recent weeks, it has been much drier than usual in many regions of France, allowing work to progress quickly. Currently, 88% of stocks are rated as good or very good, which represents an increase of 5 percentage points compared to the previous week. The improved outlook put pressure on Euronext wheat before the weekend. The highest-selling March contract fell by €1.00 to €231.00/t.
