From Agrimoney Dec. 17, 19:14GMT:
And this morning:
Wheat prices soared again, hitting a fresh seven-month high in Paris and their highest for six months in Chicago, amid continued concerns of a squeeze on Russian exports of the grain.
The rouble, whose weakness has been one source of concern for wheat buyers, actually rallied more than 10% against the dollar, after the Russian finance ministry announced it would support the domestic currency by selling foreign ones.Nonetheless, with rouble still down more than 20% against the dollar over the past month, fears remained that Russian farmers would hoard crops as a dollar-denominated hedge."Producers are using wheat as their currency," Don Roose, president of Iowa-based broker US Commodities told Agrimoney.com, adding that Russian wheat export prices had been driven up to the equivalent of about $12 a bushel in Black Sea ports.There are also concerns of official moves to clampdown on exports, to ensure sufficient supplies for domestic use, with talk of restrictions, introduced on quality grounds, on shipments to countries beyond a handful of favoured importers.'People lost millions'At Minnesota-based Benson Quinn Commodities, Brian Henry said: "I think people are not prepared to go short on wheat in the current circumstances."Memories are pretty fresh of 2010," when a Russian export ban sent prices soaring, and denied importers access to grain they had acquired."People lost millions on that," Mr Henry said....MORE
Wheat prices soar anew, despite 'sceptics'. Corn, soy up too
