Paris wheat eases in lull before USDA crop report

PARIS: Euronext wheat futures edged lower on Wednesday, curbed by a firmer euro and weaker U.S. prices in thin trading before  widely followed U.S. government crop forecasts.

Benchmark December milling wheat on Paris-based Euronext settled down 0.75 euro, or 0.4 percent, at 202.75 euros ($233.89) a tonne.

Prices were consolidating after failing to break clear of chart resistance following a four-week high of 204.00 euros on Tuesday, dealers said.

A rise in the euro against the dollar, after a seven-week low a day earlier, helped curb Euronext prices.

Grain markets were generally subdued in the run-up to Thursday's U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) monthly crop report, which will provide another assessment of world supply prospects.

The wheat market will be watching for any revision to Russian production and a possible downgrade to Australia's drought-hit crop.

In France, farming agency FranceAgriMer lifted its forecast of French soft wheat exports outside the European Union in 2018/19 to 8.75 million tonnes from 8.5 million last month, citing a good start to the export campaign and an expected easing in Russian shipments.

The agency also played down the immediate threat from Russian efforts to enter the Algerian market, the main overseas outlet for French wheat.

France plans to send a delegation to Algeria early next year to discuss grain trade, a government official said on Wednesday, amid concern over Russian lobbying.

In its monthly supply and demand outlook for cereals, FranceAgriMer also shifted some animal feed demand from wheat and barley towards maize.

Traders said attractive prices for maize relative to wheat and barley were fuelling feed demand in France.

They also noted a first maize import cargo this season that was scheduled to arrive at the northern port of Dunkirk next week, a shipment expected to supply the starch industry.