Durum markets remain as hard to pick as always. It’s no wonder we often hear wheat and sorghum traders telling us they have no interest in participating in the durum market. The Tunisia tender appears to have been shown durum wheat from Russia that has been located in Italy, not Turkish durum as expected yesterday. The grade specs for the tender were for just 70% vitreous and 78kg test weight. It was said in a Reuters report that Casillo was the lowest durum on offer, showing 25kt option origin at US$414.68 C&F. Although the purchase is yet to be confirmed the number is roughly equivalent to an XF LPP price of something close to AUD$460, depending on logistics and margin. In late January we saw DR3 trade at AUD$470 delivered Newcastle port.

One of the bigger movers overnight were chickpeas delivered Delhi market. The AUD has had an impact on price conversions from Rs/Q to AUD per tonne but this week chickpeas there have rallied 250Rs/Q, or roughly AUD$46 per tonne. Early in the week local chickpea prices appeared over valued somewhat but today we are looking at local numbers much closer to the converted Delhi number. Ramadan isn’t for another month, so possibly a little procurement taking place now. Looking at World Ag Weather.com, there’s been little to no rain across the central and southern productions region for a month. The northern region has seen more rain and should be in better shape. Harvest should get underway in the southern regions by the middle of this month and work it’s way north finishing in March. The availability and reliability of Indian data remains at it’s traditional level of credibility.

Paris rapeseed futures were crushed in overnight trade. The nearby contract shedding E10.50 per tonne. Taking the AUD / Euro movement into account the change is equivalent to about AUD$15.86 downwards this morning. Winnipeg canola futures were flat, shedding just C$0.20/t, breaking away from the weaker Chicago soybean market. US sorghum out of the Gulf was back around AUD$6.00 / tonne when taking the AUD/USD move into account.