PARIS: Euronext wheat edged lower on Wednesday to hold at a seven-week low, pressured by a fall in Chicago before closely watched US government crop forecasts and competition from Black Sea supplies.
December milling wheat on Paris-based Euronext was down 0.5% at 328.25 euros ($329.30) a tonne by 1604 GMT, its lowest since Sept. 20 and slightly below a previous seven-week trough touched on Tuesday.
Chicago wheat fell more sharply, curbed by a stronger dollar and positioning before the US Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) world crop report later on Wednesday.
Russian competition in international tenders and expectations that an export corridor from Ukraine will be maintained in some form have dampened Euronext prices this week.
Algerian grains agency OAIC is believed to have bought about 510,000 tonnes of wheat in a tender on Tuesday, with Russian supplies expected to cover a large part of the volume, traders said in updated assessments on Wednesday.
“Russia is believed to have taken a large share if not the great majority of the Algerian wheat purchase,” one German trader said.
“But I think there is relief that French wheat seems to have won at least a small part of the Algerian business.” In Germany, traders said export demand was thin, with cheap Russian supplies being offered to importing countries, including Egypt.
In France, farm office FranceAgriMer cut its monthly forecast for French soft wheat exports outside the European Union this season by 100,000 tonnes to 10.0 million.
Port loading activity continued in France and Germany, reflecting brisk sales earlier this season.
There was chatter about renewed interest from Chinese importers in French wheat following large sales earlier this season, but it was unclear if new deals had been struck.
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