EU: Cold spring expected to bring late harvest bun nevertheless good crop

The coldest spring since many years continued in May, virtually all over Europe. Precipitation was abundant except for the neighbouring regions of North Africa, Turkey and the Middle East, H. M. Gauger GmbH reported earlier this month.

The development of winter grains was slowed down, planting of spring grains delayed beyond the ideal seeding dates. Nevertheless the state of all crops is considered good, Europe hopes for a large and good quality, however late crop.

The lateness of harvest bears the risk of supply gaps of grains in some markets, the analysts warn. Corona had led to very cautious purchase policies of all industries in the food, feed and drinks sector. There was already a report of panic buying of old crop feed barley by French and Belgian compounders.

Physical markets in Europe followed the excessively volatile futures markets only to a small extent. Farmers are hardly sellers of their 2021 crops, they wait for harvest results and hope for rewarding price levels. The industries showed also little interest in covering new crop grains and oilseeds, they see good crop prospects and bank on lower price levels. Of course, price levels are much higher than last year, which is not foreseen in every company's budget, and a return to former prices is most unlikely in 2021/22.

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