Corn: Better times for bulls on the horizon?
May 31, 2018 at 12:05 PM ,
Starry Night Ltd.
BULGARIA. During the recent sowing campaign, which was quite belated due to unfavourable weather conditions, farmers, lassoing time, did manage to speed up their fieldwork. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, by the 25th of May 2018, planted land with corn reached 404,545 ha while a year earlier, total area stood 408,521 ha or by 1% more. The difference is insignificant, but the anxieties of some farmers, engendered because of missing the optimal period for sowing the grain, are difficult to assuage. Most probably, replanting will take place in fields throughout some regions. After all, catching the bull for the horns (speeding up the sowing campaign) does not necessarily mean taming (effective sowing) it successfully.
Corn: Are bulls’ hooves heard on the horizon?
A few months after the end of harvest 2017-18, local intermediary market players, who accumulate and trade in substantial quantities of the grain, forecasted the direction of the price for corn till the end of the season. As a result, the general market sentiment expected prices to reach a level of around 0.141 EUR/kg EXW; some even placed sure bets prices would not climb above expected levels.
|
Harvest 2017-18 (01.09.2017 - 25.05.2018) units in MT |
|
|
Beginning availability |
580,000 |
|
Aggregate output |
2,562,749 |
|
Imports |
19,370 |
|
Domestic consumption |
995,200 |
|
food & industrial usage |
428,000 |
|
feed |
558,000 |
|
seeds |
9,200 |
|
Exports to the world |
1,223,088 |
|
to EU markets |
973,270 |
|
to rest of the world |
249,818 |
Source: Bulgarian Ministry of Agriculture
Early in the marketing season, prices started low – in some places, as low as 0.123 EUR/kg EXW a farmer’s storage facility. Although the country realized a higher aggregate output and big regional producers and exporters within the Black sea basin recorded strong harvests, current prices have beaten all expectations. According to local authorities, corn is traded at 0.149 EUR/kg EXW Bulgaria. For some local market players, the echo of bulls’ hooves has been long building up in the noticeable spur of local and foreign demands. Current domestic consumption has reached levels of 995,200 mt or by close to 19% higher than that of last year while shipped volumes abroad reached 1,223,088 mt or by 39.80% higher on a yearly basis. The stronger foreign demand for locally grown corn supports price levels. Current trends are expected to persist.
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