China is facing a tough time as it tries to keep to its Covid Zero policy. However, China’s Premier Li is determined that the bringing in of the wheat harvest does not add to China’s slowing economy. See a Bloomberg piece on that here.

The wheat harvest is usually collected around late May and if there is a shortfall in wheat that can end up boosting prices and making current inflationary concerns worse. As a result, if you are trading wheat, you need to be aware of the potential volatility at this time of year. Typically, June is a weak time of the year with some of the largest falls in prices. The weakest time of the year tends to be March, but if the harvest is collected slowly watch out as this could boost prices sharply higher. China is trying to ensure this does not happen with local provinces even organising volunteers to help bring in crops if there are shortages of workers due to China’s Covid Zero policy. The fact that China’s Premier Li has given special instructions to the national summer harvest work meeting last week shows the importance China is putting on the harvest.