Wheat loses in weak market environment

On Euronext/Matif, contracts fell yesterday in a generally bearish market environment for commodities. The most traded December contract closed at EUR 321.50/t, EUR 3.00 lower than on Wednesday. The French agricultural consultancy Agritel is more pessimistic about France's exports to third countries than in July. Export forecast was revised down by 750,000 tons to 10.2 million tons. A ship carrying Ukrainian grain ran aground on the Bosphorus and is currently blocking passage. At 4.5 million tons (Sovecon estimate), Russia's wheat exports are better than in July, but are well below the figure for the previous year. High freight costs and a strong ruble continue to make Russian wheat unattractive on the world market. The CBoT also went south. The US dollar, which has strengthened again, is a particular burden here, coupled with concerns about inflation and recession. Pre-market, however, there are slightly green signs again.