EU wheat prices fall on slow pace of exports

Euronext wheat futures were lower on Thursday as gains in the euro this week heightened concerns about the current slow pace of exports. March milling wheat, the most active contract on the Paris-based Euronext exchange, was down 0.75 euro, or 0.5 percent, at 160.00 euros ($189.87) a tonne at 1725 GMT.
"The outlook for west EU exports is not bright, with the euro stubbornly strong and Russian exports continuing to be shipped out to world markets at a very high rate," one German trader said. European Union soft wheat exports in 2017/18 were running 25 percent below last year's level as of last week. The EU's executive was due to publish new weekly data on Thursday but postponed the release due to technical problems.
Latest estimates from consultancy SovEcon, which raised its outlook for Russian wheat exports this season, underlined stiff international competition. "People are pretty downbeat because (EU) exports are lagging and you can't see how they're going to catch up," one futures trader said. In Germany, cash market premiums in Hamburg slipped as the pre-Christmas slowdown reduced demand, with feed wheat again trading well above milling wheat prices.
Standard bread wheat with 12 percent protein content for January delivery in Hamburg was offered for sale down 0.5 euro at 3 euros over Paris March. Feed wheat prices in Germany's South Oldenburg market were once more above milling wheat, with January delivery traded on Thursday at 173 euros a tonne. Feed wheat was offered for sale at around 173.5 euros a tonne.
"In north Germany, market focus remains on sales to the animal feed industry because of the slack export demand," one German trader said. Germany's winter wheat sown area for the 2018 harvest has been reduced by 4.7 percent on the year to about 2.98 million hectares, Germany's national statistics office said on Thursday.
A reduction had been expected after repeated autumn rain prevented some farmers carrying out their planting plans. "The rainy end of the year means land has not dried out enough for farmers to catch up on sowings," another trader said. "The outlook for the 2018 crop is not looking positive although much can still change with spring sowings still to come." May feed wheat futures in London rose 0.70 pounds or 0.5 percent to 143.00 pounds a tonne, boosted by a downward revision to the government's forecast for this year's UK crop. Dealers said the lower production estimate would further tighten the balance sheet with Britain a net importer so far this season.