On the Euronext/Matif, corn rose again significantly yesterday. With a closing price of EUR 297.00 per tonne, the March contract is only EUR 1.75 below the March wheat contract on the Matif. The situation in Ukraine and critical statements by the Russian Foreign Ministry on the agreement on agricultural exports from Ukraine, which expires in March, drove share prices north again yesterday. In Brazil, meanwhile, farmers are starting the second sowing of maize. 25 percent of the targeted areas are said to have already been ordered, compared to 42 percent at this point in the previous year. The faltering soybean harvest and rain showers are hampering sowing work this year. Despite the sluggish sowing, the USDA left its assessment of the Brazilian harvest at 125 million tons in February's WASDE last week. Last year, the farmers in the South American country got 116 million tons from the fields. US export shipments for the past week reached 511,500 tons, slightly up from the previous week. On an annual basis, however, US shipments are still lagging behind the values of the previous year.
Source
VR AGRICULTURAL
