Buying activity, following recent losses, caused wheat prices to close moderately in Chicago yesterday. Institutional investors yesterday bought 2,000 lots of CBoT SRW wheat. The IGC expects sinking cereal stocks in 2018/19. The estimate for wheat production in 2018/19 is 741 million tonnes (-17 million tonnes). Due to weather conditions, the release of US export sales has been postponed to today. At the moment the eCBoT is firmer again. At Euronext in Paris, wheat futures were able to benefit from overseas requirements, closing unchanged at slightly higher levels. EU wheat exports in the current marketing year, at 14.1 million tonnes, are now 23% down on the previous year. In the week ending March 20, exports were reported for only 205,000 tonnes of wheat. In France, there are concerns about logistical bottlenecks due to planned strikes by rail workers. The prospect of disruption has boosted wheat premiums in rail-relevant regions such as Brittany. On the cash market in Hamburg, the quotes for wheat with 12% protein remained unchanged at 4 euros over Paris May 18. Yesterday, Saudi Arabia tendered a barley tender of 1.05 million tons.As a result, the premiums for barley in Hamburg rose by 4 euros.
