Algeria picked up some durum wheat yesterday. Just to keep the speculation high, Algeria do not make public their tender results, so the following is a guess by some industry participants of what has been booked or is still transpiring. The tonnage is expected to be between 150kt – 200kt. Supply is thought to be 90-120kt from Canada and the balance split between Mexico and Australia.
The price is estimated at US$390 to US$400 CiF Algeria. This converts well, and is close to where recent values have been here.
The next cab off the rank for durum is expected to be Tunisia. Volume is unsure but this purchase should see Tunisia through until their own crop is harvested in the middle of year. Funding for the purchase is said to be part of a World Bank loan that is not only funding short term imports but also expected to go towards increasing cereal production capacity going forward.

US wheat futures handed back a slice of the recent correction last night. Combine the lower finish in futures with the slight recovery in the AUD against the USD, and most of our trading partners, and it’s suggesting there’s a good chance for some downside in new crop values here today.
The recent rally in Chicago wheat had little fundamental substance behind it. The trade talking up Russian strikes in Ukraine as a mover, talk about the boy who cried wolf. The US weather map took a turn for the better yesterday, that and the recent spat of speculative profit taking would of had more of a blow to the market than a silo of wheat or corn at Odessa getting a hole in it. The US 7 day map is a little different again today, if anything it’s a little better than yesterday, today showing there’s a good chance of some rain across the US spring wheat states next week.

Canola and rapeseed futures followed the Chicago soybean market higher. Winnipeg pushing higher on a drier outlook for the short term as well.