Markets

EU wheat ends flat, hits contract low after USDA supply forecast

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May milling wheat, the last delivery position for the 2016 harvest on the Paris-based Euronext exchange, unofficially closed unchanged at 162.50 euros a tonne.

The contract slipped to 162.25 euros, the same as Monday's contract low, after the USDA crop estimates were released. It had been up 0.50 euro before the USDA report was issued at 1600 GMT.

US wheat markets also dropped after the USDA forecast US wheat stocks and world wheat stocks at the end of this season would be bigger than analysts had predicted. It estimated soybean and corn crops in Brazil and Argentina would also be bigger than expected.

In Germany, cash market premiums in Hamburg were slightly firmer in response to the overnight fall in Paris and higher prices in other German regions, especially for feed wheat.

Standard wheat with 12 percent protein content for April delivery in Hamburg was offered for sale up 0.50 euros at 6.50 euros over the Paris May contract. Buyers were seeking 5.50 euros over.

In exports, a ship was loading 16,200 tonnes of German wheat for Morocco, traders said.

European traders were also assessing dry conditions in France, with the focus on whether showers forecast from the weekend would bring significant moisture to parched zones.

 

Copyright Reuters, 2017