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25.07.19 7 FOREIGN NEWS THE price of wheat has fallen in Europe as the pace of harvests picks up across the continent. December milling wheat, the most ac- tive contract on the Paris-based Euron- ext exchange, fell €2, or 1.1 per cent, to €179.50 a tonne on Monday. Are wheat prices suffering from the chaff-like fallout from uncertainty over Brexit? For once, global economic forces are not to blame. European wheat futures fell in Paris this week on news that har- vests of the crop will come in later this year, tracking a similar trend seen in Chicago. And what are "wheat futures"? A contract to provide a certain amount of wheat, priced per tonne, which is then used as the benchmark across Europe for the pricing of the physical crop. Fu- tures are traded by co-ops, merchants, traders, exporters and processors. Why are they trading lower? In short, supplies of wheat are set to be far higher than expected. ough the EU's crop monitoring ser- vice – MARS – cut its forecast for this year's soft wheat yields to 6.04 tonnes per hectare (t/ha) from 6.10 t/ha last month, harvests are set to beat last year's by 7.3 per cent. Buyers are keeping their offers low, waiting for the new crop to come in. Why are harvests occurring earlier? In France, farmers had harvested 33 per cent of the year's wheat group by the end of last week, down from 64 per cent last year. But 12 months ago, a record-breaking June heatwave damaged the crop and meant many farmers gathered it early to avoid further disruption. is year's conditions are much better, however, meaning a higher proportion of crops will be rated "good" or "excel- lent". "Hot and dry weather is forecast for much of Germany up to Friday and this should enable wheat harvesting to really get going," one German trader said. "Conditions look good and hopes are we should be able to bring in the large harvest forecast without last-minute weather shocks." So the outlook is good? My bread will be safe? It seems so: more hot and dry weath- er is on the way, meaning conditions to bring in the rest of the bumper harvest should be perfect. Wheat prices have fallen in Europe after news that harvests are due later this year Good conditions and a less severe summer have led to record crops, but other factors are at play Wheat futures are trading lower as farmers are expecting a bumper crop this year MICHEL Barnier the EU's chief negotiator has de- livered a message to Boris Johnson. He said that the EU will be ready for a no-deal Brexit, should John- son choose that strategy. He stressed a no-deal scenario is not the EUs pref- erence and is waiting to hear from the new Tory leader of his plans. Barnier who was attending the European Parlia- ment's Brexit steering group (BSG) to discuss John- son told the BBC, "It's a very important moment for Brexit," he told the BBC in Brussels. "We look forward to hearing what the new prime minister Boris Johnson wants, what are the choices of the UK. "Is it an orderly Brexit? is is the choice; the pref- erence of the EU and we have worked for an orderly Brexit all along the last three years. "Is it a no-deal Brexit? A no-deal Brexit will never be, never, the choice of the EU. But we are prepared. "And for an orderly Brexit we will work along the next few weeks and months with the new UK Gov- ernment in the best possible way in a very construc- tive spirit to facilitate the ratification of the With- drawal Agreement." However, Johnson has previously said that the withdrawal agreement is dead, and the UK will leave on the 31 October with or without a deal. e BSG said that the statements Johnson gave during the leadership campaign had "greatly in- creased the risk of a disorderly exit of the UK." Barnier tells Johnson the EU is ready for a no-deal Brexit

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