PARIS: Wheat eased on Friday to set a latest one-year low as expectations that a Black Sea shipping corridor from Ukraine will be renewed maintained supply pressure, dealers said.
However, chart support and a bounce in Chicago wheat helped Euronext pare earlier losses.
May milling wheat, the most active wheat position on Paris-based Euronext, settled 0.9% down at 261.75 euros ($279.08) a tonne. It earlier fell to 260.25 euros, setting a lowest since February last year for a fifth straight session.
Large Russian exports and a bumper Australian harvest have also created supply pressure this week, while rain in dry U.S. and French wheat belts have tempered harvest concerns.
“Grain futures fell to a series of multi-month lows as hopes grew of a renewal of the Black Sea export corridor, with upgrades to Australia’s wheat and canola crops to record highs weighing too,” consultancy CRM Agri said in a note.
“While Russia has complained of failing to gain as much from the (corridor) deal as it should, its comments are currently being viewed as sabre-rattling rather than a sign of any serious intent to scupper the agreement.”
The United Nations’ top trade official plans to meet senior Russian officials in Geneva next week. In Germany, wheat premiums in Hamburg fell this week as slack demand continued.
Standard 12% protein wheat for March delivery in Hamburg was offered for sale at a premium of about 5 euros over the Euronext May contract, down from 7 euros over late last week.
“Demand in international markets continues to be covered from cheap Black Sea wheat, especially from Russia,” one German trader said.
“There is hope that falling Euronext prices will eventually improve the EU’s export competitiveness.”
A purchase tender from Saudi Arabia for 480,000 tonnes of wheat closing on Friday will be closely watched.
Saudi Arabia is traditionally a major buyer of EU wheat, especially from Germany, but cheap Russian wheat has been increasing its share of the Saudi market. Front-month rapeseed on Euronext again traded at its lowest since June 2021 before ending down 1.2% at 493.00 euros a tonne.
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