French soft wheat conditions declined by 1 percentage point in the week to August 12, according to a weekly report released by farm agency FranceAgriMer on Friday August 16.

Sales of Argentine soybeans and corn rose for the 2024/25 marketing year but fell for 2023/24 in the week to July 31, while wheat sales increased week on week across both crop years, according to data released by Argentina’s agriculture secretariat on Wednesday August 7.

Speculators increased short positions in the US soybean market, driving the net short position close to a record high, while managed money investors reduced short positions in the corn market.

Russia’s wheat export volumes from Black Sea ports were stable in the week ended Friday, July 26 compared with the previous week, at 574,653 tonnes, a Fastmarkets analysis of port line-up data showed.

In the 2023/24 marketing year, Russian wheat exports surpassed 55.4 million tonnes, driven by increased harvests and competitive prices, although restrained by government-mandated floor prices and shifting dynamics among exporters.

The start of the Black Sea region’s new wheat marketing year from Monday, July 1 offers an opportunity to look back on the previous marketing year and to focus on Ukraine’s experience and the effect that the self-declared humanitarian corridor has had on the country’s agricultural exports.

US corn futures dropped for a sixth consecutive trading day on Wednesday June 26 while rain continued to fall in growing areas of the Midwest, with market participants positioning before a USDA acreage report to be released on Friday.

Updated forecast by trade association Cocereal pegs 2024 wheat crop slightly higher than previous projections

A report by the USDA forecasts an increase in US ending stocks for 2024/25 to 769 million bushels, alongside a slight decrease in global stockpile estimates.

The Ukrainian Grain Association estimated the 2024/25 crop of oilseeds and grains in Ukraine at 74.6 million tonnes, down by 2% from the initial forecast of 76.1 million tonnes in March.