Euronext wheat little changed

30 Sep, 2020

PARIS: Euronext wheat was little changed on Friday as the market consolidated after hitting a five-month peak earlier this week and traders assessed mixed export prospects for European wheat.

December milling wheat, the most active contract on Paris-based Euronext, settled unchanged on the day at 192.25 euros ($223.26) a tonne.

The contract was consolidating after touching a one-week low of 191.50 euros on Thursday and a five-month high of 195.50 euros on Tuesday in an active trading week.

Further weakness in the euro against the dollar helped underpin Euronext in the face of a fall in US wheat.

Euronext has rallied this month as purchases by importing countries and a surge in Russian prices took attention away from the prospect of Algeria, France's main overseas market, opening up to Russian wheat.

Export activity in France remained light after the summer's small harvest, with the exception of a continuing flow of shipments to China.

However, in Germany and elsewhere along the Baltic rim active exports continued, partly to replace French supplies in Algeria.

Germany was also seeing further demand from British mills, traders said.

There were also expectations of more German sales to Pakistan, with one ship set to load 60,000 tonnes of German wheat for Pakistan in early October.

"High Russian prices mean that recent purchases by Pakistan looks like being switched from Russia to Germany, with talk about more panamax shipments being transferred here," a German trader said.

One ship is sailing this week with 55,000 tonnes of German wheat for Algeria and another vessel is set to load 30,000 tonnes for Algeria next week.

Showers and cooler weather across France since mid-week have improved prospects for upcoming wheat sowing after a drought that hampered earlier rapeseed drilling.

Forecasts of rain in parched wheat belts in Ukraine and Argentina have also curbed wheat markets after the recent rally.

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