Euronext wheat futures rose on Friday, supported by brisk export demand for European Union origins and a Russian proposal to set a grain export quota that kept attention on potential supply tensions from the coronavirus epidemic.
However, after rising to near a two-month peak following the announcement of the Russian quota plan, Euronext pared most of its gains as traders saw little immediate impact.
Benchmark May milling wheat on Paris-based Euronext settled up 1.50 euros, or 0.8%, at 195.00 euros ($215.90) a tonne.
It earlier rose to 197.50 euros, close to a two-month high of 198 euros touched twice this week, but again faced technical resistance around that level.
Russia's Agriculture Ministry's proposal for a grain export quota of 7 million tonnes for April-June, in a bid to protect domestic supply, raised concern that it might herald restrictions on shipments from the world's top wheat exporter.
But the fact the proposed volume broadly reflected market expectations of export potential for the rest of the 2019/20 season, plus uncertainty as to whether it would be adopted by the Russian government, tempered market reaction.
"There was a stir caused by Russia and also the Ukrainian announcements, but you have to read these things carefully," a futures broker said.
Ukraine's economy ministry said it was monitoring wheat exports and would take necessary measures if required, adding it would release 128,000 tonnes of wheat flour onto the local market to curb a price jump.
Talk about export limits in response to the coronavirus crisis has created nervousness on wheat markets after panic buying of bakery and pasta goods already contributed to a rally in prices in the past week.
Some traders said the Russian proposal had opened the way for possible export curbs as the coronavirus crisis develops.
"The mechanism has now been created for export restrictions in Russia to be implemented quickly," a German trader said.
"This is good news for EU exports."
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