PARIS: European wheat futures edged up on Tuesday after equalling a 3-1/2 month low from the previous session, in a technical recovery spurred by a bounce in Chicago prices.
September milling wheat on Paris-based Euronext was up 0.4 percent at €201.50 (USD232.79) a metric ton.
The contract earlier eased to €199.50, equalling Monday’s low, before recovering to again hold the psychological €200 level.
Chicago wheat rose around 1 percent in a rebound from a two-month low, helped by a weaker dollar and a lower than expected crop rating for US winter wheat.
“There’s a bit of support from the US crop rating and the fact the market is oversold,” a futures dealer said. “Euronext is holding up for now but we could well fall further in the short term.”
Broadly favourable weather for crops and the onset of Northern Hemisphere harvesting have pressured prices this month, turning attention away from drought damage to US wheat and a late-May heatwave in Western Europe.
The prospect of large harvests in the Black Sea zone, including top wheat exporter Russia, has also weighed on prices.
Overall export demand was still focused on Black Sea supplies, traders said.
An Egyptian buyer was seeking about 25,000 metric tons of Black Sea 11.5 percent protein wheat at around USD252 a ton c&f for June/July shipment to Egypt. A Bangladeshi buyer was seeking about 50,000 tons of 11.5 percent Black Sea wheat at around USD276 a ton c&f for June shipment.
The price lows on Euronext were nonetheless raising hopes of possible demand for western European wheat, particularly if buyers who have been waiting for a US-Iran peace deal decide to resume purchases.
“Buyers seem to be gradually returning to the market, with Jordan buying wheat in its tender today and Bangladesh also issuing a new wheat tender,” one German trader said.
“Euronext falls is putting France back in export contention in the Middle East and North Africa provided the euro plays ball,” the trader added.
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