WA Market Update – 17/05/2019

There has been little change over the past fortnight and to state the obvious, it’s dry. Nevertheless, growers continue to get the crop in the ground, albeit a little slower than they otherwise would if they were seeding into moisture. For most of the grain growing areas there has been little to no useful rain in the month of May thus far, but everyone has their fingers crossed for a slight reprieve today. It seems likely most of the southern half should get between 1-10mm and although this won’t break the season, it may be enough for some to get a germination and will certainly be beneficial to those crops already out of the ground.

Domestic grain prices have been on the slide over the past couple of weeks with negative influences from global markets and improving crop conditions in eastern Australia. But this week was a little different as we saw a kick in WA bids. Old crop APW1 in Kwinana pushed $10/MT higher to $288/MT and H2 was an impressive $17/MT higher at $302/MT FIS. Barley bids improved slightly, up $3/MT to $285/MT FIS in Kwinana. New crop wheat bids are $14/MT higher this week at $294/MT FIS.