PARIS/HAMBURG: European wheat edged higher on Tuesday as traders assessed the latest developments in the war between Russia and Ukraine and the impact of a Russian drone attack on wheat cargoes in Black Sea ports in Ukraine’s Odesa region.
March milling wheat, the most active contract on the Paris-based Euronext exchange, was up 0.1 percent at 191.00 a metric ton by 1612 GMT.
The contract had hit a nearly three-week high in the previous session as hopes of an end to the war in Ukraine faded after the Kremlin said Ukraine had targeted Russian President Vladimir Putin’s residence, an accusation Kyiv strongly denied.
On Tuesday, two Panama-flagged civilian vessels - Emmakris III and Captain Karam - were attacked by Russian drones as they entered a Ukrainian Black Sea port to load wheat, the Ukrainian navy said.
The attacked Black Sea ports continued to operate, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Kuleba said.
“Reports about the prospects for peace in Ukraine swing from positive to negative every day, and the market cannot make a real assessment of whether peace is really in sight,” one German trader said.
“I think people need to see evidence of sustained attacks on shipping before reacting,” he added. Traders also noted the bearish factors of a big wheat harvest arriving in rival exporter Argentina and falling export prices for Russian wheat.
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