PARIS: European wheat futures fell to a 10-day low on Monday, pressured by a fall on US markets and ample global supplies.
December milling wheat on Paris-based Euronext unofficially closed 1.6 percent lower at 165.50 euros a tonne after touching 165.25 euros, a low since Nov. 18. Most active March was down 0.9 percent to 168.25 euros a tonne.
Euronext continued to see technical adjustments in the run-up to the expiry of December futures, with a widening of the spread between December and March, traders said.
CME Group's December EU wheat contract fell 1.8 percent to 175.00 euros a tonne.
"The trend remains heavy in the absence of a major weather hiccup in the world," a trader said.
Operators also pointed to the arrival of southern hemisphere crops with two rare cargoes of Argentine wheat heading to Algeria, a traditional market of for EU wheat, notably French.
Imports for the animal feed sector were also weighing on prices with trade sources pointing to expected shipments of Latvian feed wheat and Romanian maize to Brittany in December.
However, the market is monitoring whether Russia decides to impose a quarantine on pig farms in the southern region of Krasnodar, a measure that could ultimately affect some grain exports, due to outbreaks of African Swine Fever.
German cash market premiums in Hamburg were stable with the euro's weak trend supporting.
Standard wheat with 12 percent protein content for January delivery in Hamburg was offered for sale unchanged at 2 euros over the Paris March contract. Buyers were seeking 1 euro over.
"The weakness in the euro against the dollar is again a welcome trend but we need new export sales to be generated to spark up prices," one German trader said.
"Demand on the tender market for wheat is quiet, with the main recent global demand said to involve substantial tonnages of wheat sold to India for December shipment, but with Ukraine and Australia seen as suppliers."
A lack of farmer selling was also noted in parts of Germany because of dissatisfaction with current low price levels.
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