I will admit my perspective is strongly influenced by my location this week, but the remarkable experience of searching for some shade from the intense heat of the midday sun on a Herbridean island yesterday chimes with my findings from news gathering from the global agri markets. The world, it seems, is on fire.

But first, milk powders. Both headline markets are showing reductions after weeks of increases. It must be stressed that there are still cheap deals around, but only for very prompt delivery, and anything with a Q3 label carries a steep premium, and Q4 exponentially more, if offered at all. UK production of sweet whey has been priced upwards by stronger sterling increasing export prices, and edible premiums are being pushed higher in Holland and France. So there is great nervousness in the market going forward, exacerbated by the prospects for global soya and corn.

Starting with soya, El Ñino has spooked the soya market in the Americas, with beans up 100 cents and oil up from 46 cents to nearly 60 cents since the beginning of June. Meal has stayed flat as a pancake, as biofuel has stoked the rise, with mandates for 2023-25 in the US due, and corruption charges in Indonesia over illegal exports of palm oi has driven the Malaysian market sharply higher.

Sterling strength has taken the edge off things, as the markets concentrate on the more tangible factors of interest rate relationships rather than the (let's hope) end of the experiment of celebrity government.

BDC agri is the UK broker for Lacto Production milk and whey powder products.

For further information and prices, contact Greg Dunn on 01206 381521 or g.dunn@blackdiamondcommodities.com