On Monday the soybean price in Chicago rose sharply, followed by corn. The wheat also decreased. In Paris, crop prices slightly went up.

The index EUR/USD increased to 1.0865. Light oil dropped to 49.44 USD/barrel.

The last week was not good for the prices of grude oil. On Friday, oil futures dropped for fifth consecutive session, bringing the losses to the lowest level for about three weeks. For the current week the decline was USD 3.35 (nearly 7%) which was the most abrupt drop down for over a month. The oil service company Baker Hughes announced on Friday that US oil platforms are rising for the fourteenth consecutive week to a total of 688 - the highest level since September 2015.

Yesterday crop prices in Chicago were supported by the slow sowing of spring crops and the sharp drop down of the US currency. Comforting for the maket turned to be Macron's victory in France and the hope that US taxes would be decreased. The rising of the euro is a factor for fierce competition on the grain markets throughout the summer, so The European grain's competitiveness is falling (considering the franchise) and the US will gain benefits.

The wet weather in the US does not allow rapid sowing and we can definitely consider we'll have late US corn crops. The rain is likely to stop next week. The first weeks of May are considered to be most crucial for the sowing. Let's not forget that US farmers are fully equipped and can sow 7-8% of the planned area per one day, which is a lot.

Farmers in Brazil slowly sell their soybean hoping that the price will rise. Farmers in Argentina are also not in a hurry with the sales. For the past week they sold only 500,000 tonnes of soybean, and up until now 9% of the new harvest and 84% of the old harvest. In many places in Europe there is drought (50% of the crops), but it should be noted that a crucial month for the wheat regarding precipitations, will be May. Now however, the world is overwhelmed by wheat and it is difficult to move the markets seriously.

European wheat yields are threatened by the lack of rainfall. This is observed in many key areas of the continent. Such areas are Northern Spain, Northeast France, the southern parts of Great Britain, Belgium, Luxembourg and West Germany. Forecasts indicate there will be no rainfall by the end of the month. MARS raised its forecast for EU wheat yields in 2017. From 6.02 tonnes/ha in March forecast to 6.05 tonnes/ha now. This is 8.2% above the EU average for 2016.

Algeria is on the market looking for wheat, which ususally reaches 500,000 tonnes.

From April 14 to April 20, the export of grain from Russian seaports reached 696,400 tonnes compared to 533,400 tonnes a week earlier. 578,600 tonnes of wheat, 22,000 tonnes of corn and 95,800 tonnes of barley were exported. The largest buyers were Egypt - 241,300 tonnes, Saudi Arabia 62,800 tonnes and Sudan 50,300 tonnes.

From the beginning of the season until 19.04.2017, 23.003 million tonnes of wheat were exported from Russia, which is 5.7% more than the previous year. During the period the export of grain from the country reached 29.789 million tonnes (-0.5%), incl. 23003 million tonnes of wheat (+ 5.7%), 4.146 million tonnes of corn (+ 6.7%) and 2.43 million tonnes of barley (-39.9%).

Rusagrotrans continues to lower its forecast for Russian grain export during the current season. In April 2.6 million tonnes of grain will be exported from the country versus the previous forecast of 3.07 million tonnes, wheat 2.1 million tonnes, barley 250 000 tonnes and corn 350 000 tonnes. In April 2016 grain export was 2.28 million tonnes, incl. wheat 1.42 million tonnes, barley 207 000 tonnes and corn 616 000 tonnes.

The situation with the Russian export seems neutral. There it is and it is good, but it is not at the level of the grain harvest in 2016.

Corn price – Yesterday, corn futures in Chicago rose by 1.25 - 2.5 cents/bushel. In the United States 17% of the area planned for corn is sown, which is 1% less than the average level for the last five years. For the week ended on April 20, 2017, the export checks of corn from US are 1 453 506 tonnes, which is 9.28% more than last week and 27% more than last year. Since the beginning of the season 37 340 934 tonnes of corn have been exported, which is 62.24% more than last year. The Taiwanese company MFIG is looking to buy 40,000 - 65,000 tonnes of corn from Argentina, Brazil, South Africa or the United States.

Soybean price – Yesterday the soy futures in Chicago rose by 9.5-11.25 cents/bushel. The weak dollar also had influenced the market. In the United States 6% of the planned for soybean areas has been sown versus 3% for the last year. Export sales of US soybeans are 634 877 tonnes (+ 42.45% and + 124.53%). Since the beginning of the season the country has exported 6.33 million tonnes more soybean than for the last year .

Wheat price – Yesterday the wheat futures in Chicago fell by 2.5 cents/bushel. The export sales for the week were 612,536 tonnes (-10.62% and + 41.14%). 54% of the wheat crops in the US are in good and excellent condition - without change since last week. Ministry of Health of Ukraine predicts that the wheat crop in the country in 2017 will be over 24 million tonnes compared to 26.8 million tonnes in 2016.