EU wheat market weighs export lull, tighter global supply

PARIS: Paris wheat futures were little changed on Monday, with prospects for tightening global supplies countering sluggish  export demand for western European wheat.

December milling wheat on Paris-based Euronext settled down 0.25 euro at 204.50 euros ($236.97) a tonne.

It again faced chart resistance at 205 euros, peaking at that level for the third session in a row.

A rise in the euro against the dollar also curbed Euronext prices and underlined weak near-term export prospects.

However, forecasts for lower wheat supply after a series of weather-hit harvests worldwide along with dry conditions for wheat sowing in western Europe were underpinning prices.

French port data again showed light loading activity at major grain shipping terminals.

At the European Union level, weekly official data showed EU soft wheat exports so far in 2018/19 were running 23 percent below last season's pace at 4.8 million tonnes.

Traders cited a rumour of a second maize (corn) import cargo this season that could come to France soon amid tight forage supplies.

A vessel is already due to bring Romanian maize to the northern port of Dunkirk, and there was now talk that a cargo of Bulgarian maize may be shipped to the west coast of France.

But it was unclear whether it would be an unusual delivery for La Pallice, usually an export terminal, or bound for Brittany, a major livestock region, traders said.

In Germany, weak export demand continued to weigh on the wheat market.

Standard bread wheat with 12 percent protein for October delivery in Hamburg was offered for sale unchanged at 2.0 euros over Paris December.

Feed wheat in Germany's South Oldenburg market for October/December delivery was offered for sale well over milling wheat, at around 215 euros a tonne, with buyers seeking 213 euros.

"Feed grain supplies are tight after the drought this summer but large feed grain import purchases were made in recent months which is likely to reduce grain purchasing by feed compounders in coming weeks," one trader said.

Germany's 2018 marketable grain maize harvest will fall about 40 percent on the year to 2.7 million tonnes, the association of German farm cooperatives DRV estimates.