China continues to take advantage of lower grain prices and weaker currencies by increasing grain purchases. There is talk of China picking up 200kt of Australian barley at US$220 C&F. The results of the anti-dumping case doesn’t seem to be a major concern at present. WA barley continues to work well into Asian markets while the Black Sea suppliers enjoy a freight advantage into the Middle East.
It is now a balancing act between short term demand and long term demand as the world comes to the realisation that consumption appears to have dropped sharply due to C19 and the financial pressure it is putting on consumers.
There was also talk that China had picked up 200kt of US sorghum overnight.

While on the COVID19 line Italy just doesn’t seem to be able to take a trick. Yesterday morning was one of the coldest mornings of the last decade with frost damage reported in fruit growing regions across NE Italy, Croatia, Slovenia and the Balkans. Temperatures pushed as low as -5C across flowering trees and vineyards, potentially decimating 2020 production. The cold pool stretched from the eastern Black Sea region to the east of France and Southern Germany, the coldest air was across the Slavic states and NE Italy.
In stark contrast to eastern Europe the western parts are expecting to see temperatures increase over the weekend with daytime maximums pushing up into the mid-twenties. France, Germany and the UK could see daytime temperatures up to 6C warmer than average. Dry weather is expected to persist along with the warm temperatures.