Last week we reported that TMO decided to intervene the market by buying stocks from the local market. The market firmed directly after the publishing of the TMO buying prices, as a lot of buyers tried to get their needs booked via regular channels. The peak in demand vanished quit rapidly as well, market eased in a couple days to the levels as before the TMO confirmation. Right now, two weeks after this news, the purchasing conditions are still not clear, resulting in a lot of stockholders moving towards the private market. It remains unclear which quantities TMO will buy, it is for sure that a lot of material which is sold to TMO has been mixed with old crop. Next to the TMO is also the crop development still an unclear factor. Frost has been reported in black sea regions at levels of 800 meters, general temperature in May hasn’t been ideal for the fertilisation period. Although some rumours enter the market about a lower 2017 crop our advice is to follow the market closely and await the crop reports later (end of May/June) as it still too early to make any hard predictions.
