PARIS/HAMBURG: European wheat prices edged lower on Friday, weighed down by competition from the Black Sea region and a decline in US markets but prices were still on track for their first weekly gain in four weeks.
The benchmark May milling wheat contract on Paris-based Euronext dropped by 0.9%, trading at 224 euros ($243.64) per metric ton by 1635 GMT, marking a weekly increase of approximately 1%. Chicago wheat prices fell by 1.2% but were also poised to record a weekly gain.
“Russian and other Black Sea prices are ending the week below the west EU,” one German trader said. “This is disappointing as French wheat had been looking cheapest to important markets like Egypt.” Traders said Russian and Ukrainian 11.5% protein wheat was on Friday around $239-$243 a ton FOB for April shipment, about $6-$7 cheaper than French. Romanian wheat was about the same as French, with recent strong Romanian export sales supporting prices, traders said.
Traders also noted greater interest in Ukrainian wheat, with hopes moves towards a ceasefire will ease shipments, while a large part of Algeria’s wheat purchase on Wednesday could be sourced from Ukraine. For Italian buyers, Ukrainian 11% milling wheat was quoted at around 245-255 euros a ton including delivery to north Italy.
Ukrainian farmers are planning to sow 5.7 million hectares of spring grains this year, nearly the same area as in 2024, according to Ukraine’s Agriculture Minister Vitaliy Koval.
Ukraine traditionally grows winter crops, with winter wheat accounting for about 95% of the country’s wheat production. For the 2025 harvest, farmers have sown 5.24 million hectares of winter grain, with wheat being the dominant crop.
The condition of France’s soft wheat crop remained stable last week in a new sign that drier weather allowed crops to stop deteriorating. Ratings showed that 74% of the soft wheat crop was in good or excellent condition by March 10, unchanged from a week earlier, while winter barley scores were stable at 70% compared to 68% by the same time last year.
The soft wheat rating was still the second-lowest in the past five years after the 66% score a year ago when torrential rain set France on course for its smallest wheat harvest since the 1980s. Winter crop conditions deteriorated between December and February, with a wet January keeping some fields waterlogged, but they have remained nearly stable since.
Spring barley sowing was 92% complete as of Monday, up from 65% the previous week and well ahead of the 28% a year earlier. The pace of sowing also exceeded the five-year average of 70% for that week.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.