PARIS: Euronext wheat futures climbed on Tuesday to fresh contract highs, part of a weather-fuelled surge in grain prices, before giving back some gains as traders digested an aborted tender by top wheat importer Egypt.
September milling wheat on the Paris-based Euronext exchange was up 2.50 euros, or 1.1%, at 228.75 euros ($276.24) a tonne by 1544 GMT.
It earlier set the latest in a series of life-of-contract highs at 233.50 euros.
Old-crop May wheat rose as much as 6 euros to a contract high of 252.75 euros, also equalling a near eight-year high for a front-month price set in early March.
Chicago wheat hit an eight-year high in overnight trading before also paring gains. A sharp decline in weekly US wheat crop ratings supported prices along with weather concerns surrounding corn supply in Brazil and the United States.
However, the cancellation by Egyptian state buyer GASC of a tender, in which Romanian wheat was offered lower than both Russian and French supplies, encouraged the market to consolidate.
“The whole rally is tied to corn and the backdrop of Brazilian production,” a French trader said.
“But the cheaper offers of Romanian wheat in the GASC tender may have been a cue to take a breather.”
Traders were also looking ahead to a tender on Wednesday by Algeria, with the possibility of more sales of German and Polish wheat welcomed amid otherwise slack end-of-season demand.
“I estimate about 30% of Algeria’s recent wheat purchases were sourced in Poland,” one Polish trader said.
“Polish export business is rather slack at the moment, with only one ship in Gdynia loading wheat, taking on 25,000 tonnes for Saudi Arabia, so exporters would welcome new business.”
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