HGCA’s flagship annual conference for 2014 will look at whether the industry needs to retune its perspective to respond to long-term influences motivating world markets.

With grain prices at a four-year low and immediate prospects for harvest looking good, the 2014 Grain Market Outlook Conference on Tuesday 14 October at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre in London will give key insights into and new analyses of global markets.

Four speakers will present a full morning of detailed market analysis, with opportunities for the audience to question the experts after each paper.

Jonathan Tipples, HGCA Chair, said: “Market conditions in 2014/15 are shaping up to be the most challenging for a number of years. It’s really important that we zoom out from immediate issues and speculations, and focus on the broader issues which may affect the market in the coming months. With recent events showing that the market doesn’t respect costs of production, what lies ahead for cereals and oilseeds businesses?”

Starting off the day, Jack Watts, AHDB/HGCA Lead Analyst will present the 2014/15 Grain Market Outlook, introducing the main grain themes for this season and the prospects for UK wheat returning to export.

David Jackson, Director of Oilseeds at LMC will follow with the 2014 Oilseed Market Outlook, giving an overview of global oilseed production in 2014, price implications and prospects for the approaching South American soyabean crops. The update takes in China’s appetite for soyabeans, fundamental supply and demand issues in the vegetable oils market, Canadian and Australian canola production and the impact, if any, of El Niño.

Then, bearing in mind the market’s reaction to recent instability in the Black Sea region, Sergey Feofilov, General Director of UkrAgroConsult will speak on the importance and influence of Ukraine in global grain markets. What are the long-term prospects for production in terms of area and yield, and what are the constraints likely to be? Mr Feofilov will look at this and other issues such as farm-level investment.

Patrícia Luís-Manso, Agriculture Research Director for Platts, will give the final paper of the conference, speaking on the European ethanol market and implications for the emerging UK sector, in the context of competition from US and Brazilian imports and the surrounding policy.

Book your place at hgca.com/events.