EU wheat in subdued end to week as exports and weather weigh

PARIS: Euronext wheat futures were little changed in light trading on Friday as the market assessed mixed export prospects for the end of the season and awaited clearer indications on this summer's harvest.

Benchmark May milling wheat on Paris-based Euronext, settled unchanged at 189.25 euros ($213.80) a tonne. It was also flat over the week after hovering near chart resistance at 190 euros.

Chicago wheat, the global benchmark, offered little impetus, edging lower in US trading.

"We're in an end of season market that is pretty stable," said Agritel analyst Nathan Cordier.

A busy loading programme at French ports, which prompted farming agency FranceAgriMer to raise its forecast for French soft wheat exports for the third month in a row on Wednesday, continued to underpin Euronext.

However, export prospects for the final weeks of the 2018/19 season that runs to June 30 have been tempered by competition from U.S wheat in Algeria, France's main overseas market, and the rejection of a French wheat cargo by Egypt.

Traders on Friday said that Algeria bought a total of 540,000 tonnes of optional-origin milling wheat in a tender on Thursday.

"There's going to be stiff competition between French and US wheat to fill the Algerian order," Agritel's Cordier said.

After news this week that Egyptian authorities had provisionally rejected a French wheat cargo for excessive levels of ergot fungus, no French wheat was offered by traders in an international tender held by Egyptian state buyer GASC on Friday.

The absence of French offers was expected but the tender also showed continuing availability of Black Sea origins. GASC bought Romanian and Ukrainian wheat and passed on a US offer.

Traders were also assessing crop conditions for this summer's harvest.

French soft wheat crops were rated 83 percent good/excellent as of April 8, down from 84 percent a week earlier.

Dry conditions were continuing to cause some concern in Europe. Rain was forecast for the week ahead in France and parts of central and southern Europe, but northern Europe was expected to remain dry.

In Germany, cash premiums in Hamburg were firm as a busy programme of ship loadings again lent support.

Standard bread wheat with 12 percent protein for April delivery in Hamburg was offered for sale at about 7 euros over Paris May, up 1 euro.

"The good ship-loading programme in German ports, mainly to our traditional customers in Africa and Saudi Arabia, is keeping premiums firm," one German trader said.

"But the western EU's performance in major international tenders this week was not encouraging."