European market

The European markets will reopenafter a long 3-day weekend, integrating the latest climatic and geopolitical movements. The situation in the Middle East has remained completely bogged down throughout the past week. But a new element should be noted this Monday, as the 10ᵉ week of blocking the Strait of Hormuz begins: Donald Trump announced last night the escort of boats from "neutral" countries by US naval forces to allow them to exit the Persian Gulf. The crude oil market welcomes this initiative by easing prices. However, the decline remains measured, with WTI still at more than $100/barrel in New York, pending a verification of the effectiveness of this new rebound.
From a meteorological point of view, the return of the rains on Western Europe appears to be more significant than expected at the end of last week, both in terms of accumulations and in terms of geographical coverage. The rains of the next 10 days are expected to be favourable well beyond the borders of France and will also sprinkle the Benelux, Germany and Poland.
FranceAgriMer published last Thursday its grain report on the crops conditions which is deteriorating as of April 27 in France:
Soft wheat: 81% from good to excellent down -2 points on the week
Winter barley: 77% from good to excellent down - 4 points over the week
Durum wheat: 82% from good to excellent down -9 points on the week
Spring barley: 88% from good to excellent down by -4 points over the week
Corn: 73% of sown, an increase of +17% over the week.
Note that on this first Monday of May, the physical prices that we indicate pass on the 2026 harvest with the exception of corn and sunflower seed which will remain in harvest 2025 until the end of July. 

American market

Unlike Europe, the American markets were open last Friday, May 1st. Wheat prices have consolidated, with very slight increases in closing for SRW and HRW, and this after the month-end profit-taking observed on Thursday. The market remains undecided and sensitive to the evolution of the situation with precipitations on the Great Plains. The return of the rains remains unsufficient and concerns persist on the ground.
That is why the USDA Crop Progress report of this Monday evening on the state of crops will again be closely scrutinized. The same will be true for corn and soybeans, even if last week this report reported a strong advance in planting. The weather is indeed judged as too humid in the south and east of the Corn Belt, which fuels discussions and allowed corn and soybean prices to close Friday's session and the week up.
On Thursday, the USDA published the following weekly export sales for the United States :
Wheat: 179,000 t in 2025/26 and 157,000 t in 2026/27
Corn: 1,598 t in 2025/26
Soybeans: 258,000 t in 2025/25.

Black Sea market

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