PARIS: Euronext wheat ended little changed on Wednesday as traders sought a clearer picture on upcoming harvests and awaited a US Federal Reserve policy decision amid growing investor angst over economic headwinds. September milling wheat on Paris-based Euronext settled up 0.1% at 392.75 euros ($407.95) a tonne.
Weakness in the euro and signs of summer export demand for French wheat, as buyers adapt to war disruption to Ukrainian supplies, continued to underpin Euronext, dealers said. However, a slight fall in Chicago wheat as US harvesting advanced helped curb European prices.
Market participants were also digesting emergency European Central Bank measures in response to a bond market rout, ahead of what is expected to be the most aggressive rise in Federal Reserve interest rates since 1994. Traders were monitoring a heatwave in France that could see temperatures reach the 40 degrees Celsius (104°F) mark on Friday.
The market has so far seen moderate risks for cereal crops, with the heatwave set to break on Saturday, although the arrival of high temperatures in growing belts hurt by spring drought could add to plant stress.
“There’s a bit more concern about central France where crops aren’t as fully developed as in the southwest to absorb the heat,” a French trader said.
Physical premiums at France’s west coast port of La Pallice remained high at around 8 euros above Euronext for July-August delivery.
Traders said there was continuing talk of interest from Asian millers for French and Romanian wheat as an alternative to Ukrainian supplies. Some participants cited talk of one or several cargoes of French wheat as already sold for Indonesia, but others said it was still unclear if any deals had been done.
“The assumption is that European Union wheat is going to be price-competitive very quickly for export this summer,” another French trader said.
A vessel is due to call this week at La Pallice to load barley for Iran, according to Refinitiv data, a rare shipment that was also boosting export sentiment, traders said.
There was talk of possible French wheat exports to Iran this summer, although some traders were cautious given Iran’s usual requirement for a high-protein wheat quality not widely available in France.
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