| Commodity | €/t May 2025 | €/t Nov/Dec 25 Dried |
| IRL Feed Wheat¹ | 240 | 235-240 |
| IRL Feed Barley¹ | 235 | 225 |
| Paris MATIF Wheat² | 220.25 | 226 |
| Paris Oilseed Rape | 518 | 488.50 |
| Maize ex. Port | 245 | 230 |
² Source: Euronext correct as of 31.03.25 2pm
Market Prices and News
MATIF wheat futures have been pressurised over the past week. Nearby May- 25 futures closed at €218.75/t on Friday 28th March, losing €7.75/t on the week. Matif futures for new crop Nov-25 remains higher than spot levels, closing at €225.25/t to finish last week. Lower northern hemisphere weather risks in continental Europe and in the Black Sea region are the key driving factors.
Markets are also anticipating a significant hike in US maize plantings; analysts see the area rising to 94.36 million acres which would be nearly 4 million acres more than in 2024. USDA will release its official quarterly planting estimates at 5pm on 31st March.
In London LIFFE futures for May-25 closed at a contract low of £167.15/t on Thursday 27th March.
Native prices remain more stable than developments on global markets. Spot prices reported to IFA this week put dried wheat at €235-240/t. For new crop dried Nov-25 prices are reported as €225/t for dry barley and €235-240/t for dry wheat respectively.
Spot maize imported into Ireland is reported at €245/t, with new crop at €230/t for November.,
No native offers for green grain have been issued in the past week.
Rapeseed markets recovered much of the significant losses recorded earlier in the month on news of the introduction of tariffs between Canada, USA and China. MATIF May-25 futures have gained consecutively over the past 10 days to close on Friday 26th at €525.50/t, prices for this contract two weeks ago (17th March) were at €466/t. This is due to high global oilseed demand and a poor EU supply. New crop futures have also recovered to reach €488/t, up from €460/t on the 14th March.
Global Grain Supply and Demand
The International Grains Council has forecast global grain production to increase by 62.9MMt to a total of 2,368MMT. However, ending stocks are only reported up by 1.4MMT.
Global wheat production is expected to rise and reach a record 806.7MMT up by 7.6MMT
Global maize production is set to rise to 1,269 MMT up by 52.2MMT, 16.6MMT is expected to come from the USA owing to the acreage increase mentioned above.
Global soya production is forecast by IGC to rise to 427.7MMT up from 417 MMT in 2024/25, due to further growth in the Brazilian crop and a recovery in Argentina.
Russian wheat production for 2025/26 has been increased to 82.5MMT up from 81MMt last month according to analyst IKAR.
The EU Commissions first forecast for 2025 shows a much-improved outlook for the European harvest. Soft wheat production is expected to rebound 13% year on year to 125.5MMT. Barley production is expected to increase by 5% to 51.7%.
In the UK AHDB have also reported better crop condition in the UK for harvest 2025. Wheat rated ‘good’ is 70% versus 34% this time last year. Spring planting is significantly advanced in England with over 70% of crops planted.
Ag Rural have updated Brazilian soybean production to 165.9MMT for 2024/25m which shows a decline of 2.3MMt. Soybean harvest is now virtually completed in Brazil.
