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Russian winter wheat planting progressed by less than 1% in the week ending Monday December 2, effectively signaling the completion of sowing, and crop conditions remained near record-low levels, confirming earlier concerns, according to data reviewed by Fastmarkets.

US corn futures were mostly steady on Monday December 2 following Thanksgiving week, and market activity was slow to pick up across the Americas.

Export inspections of US corn for the week ending Thursday November 28, totaled 935,859 tonnes, down by 74,141 tonnes, or 7%, from the 1.01 million tonnes recorded in the prior week, according to US Department of Agriculture data published on Monday December 2.

Activity in the global corn markets remained relatively subdued on Friday November 29, despite traders in the US largely returning to work after a national holiday.

Fastmarkets’ weekly recap of the main movements in global cash markets.

Fastmarkets commits to publishing daily the bids, offers, indicative levels, or other cash trading indications on any basis and geography related to any vital markets with strong ties with Ukraine.

Russia’s customs subcommittee has approved a wheat export quota for the second half of the marketing year – from February 16 to June 30 – of 11 million tonnes, but has not set any quota for barley or corn, essentially meaning that exports of these products will not be possible, Russian news agency Interfax has reported.

Russia’s weekly wheat exports from Black Sea ports dropped to 742,885 tonnes in the week to November 28, down sharply by 32% from 1.1 million tonnes the previous week, data from Fastmarkets’ research team showed on Friday November 29.

Weekly net sales data from the USDA has revealed a 29% week-on-week drop in 2024/25 corn sales, with just over 1 million tonnes registered in the week to November 21, according to delayed data released on Friday November 29, 2024.

The Russian government has continued to raise the export tariffs on wheat and corn, and also increased the tariff on barley for the period December 4-10, while the country’s national currency has lost 9% of its value, an update from the country’s agriculture ministry showed on Friday November 29.

The European Commission has updated its forecasts for usable cereal production in the EU for the 2024/25 marketing year, reflecting slight adjustments compared with previous estimates and notable differences from the five-year average, Fastmarkets heard on Friday November 29.

Ukraine exported 771,000 tonnes of grains during the week ended Thursday November 28, marking a weekly decrease of 156,000 tonnes (17%) from the previous week, according to data released by the country’s State Customs Service on Friday November 29.

The French corn harvest advanced by 7 percentage points in the week to Monday November 25, with 89% of the total planted area now harvested, according to the latest weekly report from FranceAgriMer.

Canada’s grain and oilseed exports totaled 1.1 million tonnes in the week to Sunday November 24, down by 70,300 tonnes, or 6%, from 1.17 million tonnes a week earlier, according to data published by the Canadian Grain Commission on Friday November 29.

Corn markets globally were slow on Thursday November 28, with the US national holiday taking key participants out of the market along with expected USDA net sales data releases.

Fastmarkets commits to publishing daily the bids, offers, indicative levels, or other cash trading indications on any basis and geography related to any vital markets with strong ties with Ukraine.

Brazil’s southern region is expected to receive heavy rainfall during the week beginning Thursday November 28, which could benefit corn and soybean crops but also delay some late planting and increase the risk of fungal disease.

Brazil’s Paraná state agency Deral has trimmed its estimates for the 2024/25 soybean production to 22.3 million tonnes from the previous 22.4 million tonnes forecast, while slightly reducing its summer corn and wheat output projection, its monthly report showed on Thursday November 28.

France’s 2024 grain corn harvest is forecast to reach 13.9 million tonnes, representing a 10% increase compared to last year, according to the corn growers' association AGPM.

The Ukrainian corn harvest progressed by 1 percentage point to 93% of the total planned area in the week to Thursday November 28, with 24.2 million tonnes brought in from the fields, according to the latest data from the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food.