PARIS: Euronext wheat was little changed on Friday, holding near a three-week low as traders weighed latest attacks in Russia’s war with Ukraine against diplomatic moves to end a conflict that disrupted Black Sea grain trade.
December wheat on Euronext was unchanged on the day at €234.25 (USD262.34) a metric ton at 1607 GMT. The benchmark contract remained near a three-week low of €232.50 struck on Wednesday and again on Thursday. Chicago wheat edged higher, moving away from a three-month low hit on Wednesday.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Friday that peace negotiators from Ukraine, Russia and the United States would meet in the first half of November in Abu Dhabi.
Washington, meanwhile, announced a local ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine from October 29 covering the Russian-controlled town of Oleshky.
However, attacks continued in the war, including a drone strike that sank a cargo ship off the Romanian Black Sea coast.
“Overall markets will closely watch the peace talks between Ukraine and Russia over the coming days/weeks,” British merchant Frontier Agriculture said in a note.
“Then global wheat markets could come under further global pressure as, on paper, there’s plenty of wheat to go around still.” Rising Russian exports through the Baltic Sea and the start of Southern Hemisphere harvesting were maintaining expectations of ample supply.
In Argentina, the Rosario Stock Exchange on Wednesday increased its forecast for the country’s upcoming wheat harvest to 23.8 million metric tons, from the 21 million last month. Hopes of de-escalation in the Black Sea and optimism about Southern Hemisphere crops have encouraged investment funds with large long positions in Euronext wheat to cut their exposure.
In France, sowing of soft wheat and winter barley accelerated last week, data from farm office FranceAgriMer showed, as farmers got field work done before wet weather this week.
In a potential setback for farmers, sources said that Algeria had asked urea producers to stop exporting the fertiliser to France, adding to trade curbs that have followed a diplomatic rift between Algiers and Paris.
French farmers step up wheat, barley sowing before
wet spell
Sowing of soft wheat and winter barley in France accelerated last week, data from farm office FranceAgriMer showed, as farmers got field work done before wet weather this week.
France, the European Union’s biggest grain producer, has endured severe drought since summer, raising concerns that autumn planting could suffer after a dire maize harvest.
In a weekly report on Friday, FranceAgriMer estimated that 45 percent of the planned soft wheat area for next year’s harvest had been sown by October 19.
That was up from 15 percent a week earlier and ahead of an average 42 percent for the same week in the past five years. For winter barley, sowing was 55 percent complete against 20 percent a week earlier and a five-year average of 59 percent.
Unsettled weather this week has brought the first substantial precipitation in months to parts of France, including major northern grain belts.
The wet spell may slow further sowing work but help already-planted crops to emerge while replenishing soil moisture reserves. For maize, production of which is widely forecast to plunge to a 50-year low this year after this summer’s drought and record heatwaves, harvesting was winding down. Farmers had harvested 97 percent of the grain maize crop by Monday, FranceAgriMer said.