PARIS: Euronext wheat edged up on Friday after a sharp fall this week, with improved export prospects helping underpin prices.
May wheat, the most active contract on Euronext, settled 0.5% higher at 229.00 euros ($238.07) a metric ton, recovering from Thursday’s near three-month low of 227.50 euros. Over the week, the contract was down 2.5%.
Chicago wheat, which has pressured Euronext this week, eased again on Friday. The US market has been curbed by a government forecast of increased wheat planting as well as concerns over the consequences of proposed US tariffs.
Talk of renewed demand from Morocco for Western European wheat, including French supplies, has lent some support to Euronext this week against a backdrop of rising Russian prices.
“It appears French wheat has been sold for March to Morocco,” a futures dealer said. “Russian prices aren’t easing so we could see more exports in the coming months.”
However, traders cautioned there was still competition from non-Russian Black Sea origins like Romanian and Bulgarian wheat. Tunisia was believed to have purchased about 25,000 metric tons of optional-origin soft wheat in a tender on Friday, with Black Sea origins seen as best placed.
In France, the condition of soft wheat declined slightly last week to remain near the rain-hit score a year ago, while spring barley sowing advanced quickly during a drier spell, data from farm office FranceAgriMer showed on Friday.
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