May 31, 2011

European wheat decreases as Russia terminates export prohibition

European wheat futures plummeted about 5% in opening trade on Monday (May 30) after Russia declared that it will remove a ban on grain shipments from July 1 over the weekend.

Benchmark November milling wheat <BL2X1> on the Euronext exchange was down 2.4% at EUR245/tonne (US$353), after falling as low as EUR239.25 (US$344.44).

The news brings the prospect of competitively priced Russian wheat coming back on to export markets, although traders said pressure on international prices may be limited by weather problems in the EU and the US.