EU wheat futures lower on high global supply

European wheat futures edged lower on Thursday as the prospect of high global supply and stiff export competition again pressured prices. March milling wheat, the most active contract on Paris-based Euronext, settled down 0.50 euro at 161.75 euros ($190.87) a tonne.
Volumes were thin, with year-end meetings of grain cooperatives in France continuing to keep some market participants away from their desks. December futures ended 1 euro lower at 156.25 euros, after setting a new contract low of 156.00 euros. The spot futures have seen sharper movements than other positions in the run-up to their expiry on December 11.
Chicago wheat futures also set contract lows. "EU prices, like their American counterparts, have fallen on the weaker global tone," UK grain merchant Gleadall said in a market note.
Wednesday's higher than expected official estimate of Canada's wheat crop has put the focus back on high global supply. In exports, western European wheat has faced competition in particular from a record Russian harvest.
Weekly data also confirmed that EU exports were lagging well behind last season's pace. The bloc has exported 8.75 million tonnes of soft wheat so far in 2017/18, 23 percent less than in the year-earlier period, the data showed. French customs data showed that the EU's biggest wheat exporter saw shipments slump to a season's low in October, with less than 300,000 tonnes shipped outside the EU.
However, export activity in France has picked up since, with data compiled by Reuters showing almost 700,000 tonnes were shipped in November and a further 260,000 tonnes so far this month. In Germany, cash market premiums in Hamburg were little changed as export loadings remained thin and animal feed makers continued to offer the main demand.
"I calculate that Germany exported only 900,000 tonnes of wheat so far this season to the end of November, only about half of shipments at the same time in 2016," one German trader said. "Export shipments of about 100,000 tonnes of wheat are likely in Germany in December. This is a relatively modest volume compared to past years."
Standard bread wheat with 12 percent protein content for January delivery in Hamburg was offered for sale unchanged at 4 euros over Paris March but with offers of 3.5 euros over also heard. Feed wheat prices Germany's South Oldenburg market were once more above milling wheat, with January delivery offered at around 174.5 euros a tonne, with buyers around 173.5 euros.