PARIS: Euronext wheat rose for a second session on Friday in step with Chicago as the market recovered from early-week lows. March milling wheat, the most active position on Euronext’s Paris-based futures, settled 0.9percent higher at 191.00 euros (USD221.52) a metric ton.
Euronext tracked strength in Chicago wheat, which has rebounded from a one-week low struck on Thursday. The European market also found support from a drop in the euro to its lowest against the dollar since November.
A weaker euro makes western European grain cheaper for export, a potential boost at a time of abundant global supply including in Argentina. In free-on-board (fob) terms, Argentine 11.5percent protein wheat ended the week again the world’s cheapest at USD216-USD220 a ton for February shipment with Russian around USD223-USD225. French, Romanian and Ukrainian were in a similar range between USD228-USD230 a ton.
But military escalation in the Black Sea, with Russia and Ukraine targeting vessels and ports in their ongoing war, has raised shipping costs there.
French 11.5percent protein wheat was at around USD244 a ton, cost and freight included (c&f), for February shipment to Egypt, against USD245 for Russian and USD247-USD248 a ton c&f for Ukrainian and Romanian, a German trader said.
Traders are awaiting the outcome of a Saudi tender seeking 595,000 tons, with results expected on Monday. The European market remained underpinned by slow selling from farmers unhappy at current prices, which was complicating export sales by merchants.
“With heavy export competition it is difficult to argue for higher prices with Poland still with large volumes of wheat which must be exported in the second half this season or put in carryover stocks,” a Polish trader said. Exporters were offering to buy Polish 12.5percent protein wheat at around 815 zloty (193 euros) a ton for January/February delivery to port silos, little changed on the week. In France, limited farmer selling coupled with steady demand from Morocco and within the European Union were keeping wheat premiums firm, according to traders.
Barley premiums remained well above wheat levels at the main export hub of Rouen, with supplies ebbing after a brisk export season including a rare shipment to Iraq this week.
In rapeseed, May futures on Euronext ended up 0.5 percent at 467 euros a ton after hitting a new one-month high, as a trade agreement between Canada and China boosted Canadian prices.
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