Some sellers of Baltic milling wheat are trying to cancel earlier sales of August-loading cargoes at other origins because of delays to the harvest and crop quality concerns caused by heavy rainfall in the Baltic region, market participants said.
Rain in recent weeks is likely to delay winter wheat harvests across the Baltic states. Some sellers are trying to buy back sold August-loading cargoes as a result, because timely deliveries are not guaranteed, market participants said.
And buyers might look to France instead for 11.5pc wheat, and to US Hard Red Winter (HRW) wheat to cover their 12.5pc requirements, market participants said.
For loadings further out, quality concerns and an uncertain harvest pace have pushed sellers in the fob Baltic milling wheat market to take a step back, possibly at least until farmers in the region are able to progress the harvest further and the specifications of this year's crop become clearer. So far, the outlook has been for protein contents above historical averages, according to market participants. At the same time, the recent rains could pose a risk to falling numbers, an indicator of sprouting damage.
Large areas across Lithuania received up to 100mm of rain in the week ending 2 August, according to meteorological data. And 10-50mm of rain also fell across the rest of the Baltic states over the same period.
