Wheat export demand from the European Union (EU) increased this week and the situation is expected to continue as fighting disrupts shipments from Ukraine and Russia, traders said.
“This week there were big EU export sales from Romania, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Poland and other EU countries”, said a trader.
“A quick end to the fighting in Ukraine would be needed to allow Ukrainian and Russian shipping to return to normal. As this did not happen, replacement supplies were purchased on a large scale”.
Paris Euronext wheat futures on Thursday hit new all-time highs, as the war in Ukraine continued to affect supplies from the Black Sea.
A further complication is market rumor that new Russian wheat sales have fallen sharply due to a combination of port closures, a lack of ships willing to call at Russian ports and the impact of sanctions, traders said.
This is despite the fact that Russia’s large Black Sea port of Novorossiysk remains open.
“The EU wheat market is on fire with high shipping demand, especially from importers in the Mediterranean-Middle East region and North Africa.”, stated another trader.
“It is difficult to calculate the total, but I think we are talking about hundreds of thousands of tons sold this week. With such strong demand in German ports, wheat will be transported from the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia”, he added.
Demand continued on Friday and is expected to continue next week, traders said.
“The phone rings all the time with purchase inquiries for export”, said another trader.
In Bulgaria, rising wheat exports are said to be causing concern that local supplies may run out.
Source: Gestion
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