Financial crisis slows grain market

“Buyers are observing that grain and other commodity prices are being pulled
down by the financial crisis and seem to be waiting to see how far prices will
fall before tendering,” one trader said. “Simply delaying by a few days can mean
hundreds of thousands of dollars saved in the current market.”

Andrei
Sizov Sr., chief executive officer of Russian agricultural analysts SovEcon,
said: “I don’t think that with the end of Ramadan importers from Islamic states
will boost their activity.” A major increase in tender activity in the
international grains market had been expected this week following the end of the
Ramadan fasting period in Islamic countries, among the main grain
importers.

“They will probably be buying relatively small volumes of
grain on the falling market at market prices and will not be building stocks.
The developing liquidity crisis will be an additional stimulus for such a
policy.”

[Reuters]