EU wheat steady near two-week top as USDA report awaited

PARIS: Euronext wheat ended little changed on Monday in the run-up to widely followed U.S. government data but improved export sentiment helped keep prices near an earlier two-week high.

Benchmark March milling wheat on the Paris-based Euronext exchange settled 0.25 euro, or 0.1 percent, higher at 204.00 euros ($232.07) a tonne, after earlier rising to 204.50 euros, its highest since Nov. 23.

"Tomorrow's USDA report provides another reason for the market to stand still," a futures dealer said. "As long as the 200 euro level holds, there won't be much selling pressure."

Grain markets are focusing on Tuesday's monthly supply-and-demand forecasts from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

Euronext had drawn strength from Friday's rally in U.S. wheat, which climbed 3 percent on the back of strong export figures before easing on Monday.

Weekly European Union data, which showed soft wheat exports were lagging less far behind last season's pace than previously, also lent encouragement to hopes that dwindling supplies in Russia and Ukraine will leave more demand for EU and U.S. origins as the season goes on.

The EU data showed the bloc had exported 7.3 million tonnes of soft wheat so far this season. That was 23 percent below the year-earlier level, compared with minus 29 percent the previous week.

Front-month December futures provisionally closed up 1.50 euros at 204.00 euros on their final trading day.

Traders noted a quiet last session for the contract, saying increased penalties for open positions not backed by delivery certificates in the run-up to expiry were encouraging participants to clear positions earlier.

Export sentiment was more subdued in Germany where a drought-hit harvest this year slashed the country's surplus and fuelled import demand for livestock feed grain.

Standard bread wheat with 12 percent protein for December delivery in Hamburg was offered for sale unchanged at 1.0 euro over Paris December.

Feed wheat in the South Oldenburg market for December delivery was offered for sale above milling wheat at around 215 euros a tonne, with buyers seeking 213 euros.

Shipping on the Rhine was back to normal after six months of low water that had prevented vessels from fully loading.

"Repeated rain in the last week has helped raise the Rhine and other rivers again, making inland shipping possible at normal prices again," the German trader said.

Low levels on the Rhine and other waterways had also hampered transport of maize from eastern France to the Benelux region, leading to unusual sea shipments of maize from southwest France.

The rainfall should also boost wheat sown this autumn in parched soils in Germany after showers during November had already improved crop prospects elsewhere in western Europe.