EU wheat edges higher as demand supports
PARIS, July 17 (Reuters) -European wheat futures edged higher for a second day on Wednesday to move away from a four-month low as a run of demand from importers lent support to a market that has been pressured by incoming supplies from northern hemisphere harvests.
Concern over drought stress to maize crops in the Black Sea region was helping underpin wheat, dealers said.
Front-month September wheat BL2U4 on the Paris-based Euronext exchange settled 0.4% up at 215 euros ($234.89) a metric ton.
The contract had slipped on Tuesday to 211.50 euros, its weakest since March 22, before turning higher. GRA/EU
Chicago wheat Wv1 also steadied on Wednesday after a four-month low, supported by a weaker dollar. GRA/
However, gains were modest on Euronext as the euro EUR= climbed against the dollar and results from import tenders highlighted stiff competition from cheaper Black Sea supplies.
Egypt's state grains buyer on Tuesday bought 770,000 tons of mostly Russian wheat in an international tender, marking its biggest single purchase since 2022 after a fall in Russian prices. Traders believe that Russia's unofficial minimum export price floor was not implemented in the tender.
Algeria, meanwhile, was initially thought by traders to have booked about 600,00 tons of wheat in a tender on Wednesday at $241-$244 a ton, cost and freight included. The prices suggested Black Sea origins, including Russian wheat, were mostly likely to be supplied.
“The purchase tenders from the big buyers this week are supportive despite indications the Russian government has suspended its minimum export price floor, which will intensify price competition between Russia and the EU,” one German trader said.
In Germany, the 2024 wheat crop will fall by 6.2% on the year to 20.20 million tons, the country's association of farm cooperatives said in its latest harvest estimate on Wednesday, down slightly from its June estimate of 20.34 million tons.
Germany's winter wheat harvesting has started in some regions and now needs dry, sunny weather for a good-quality crop to be harvested, it said.
Financial investors extended their net short position in Euronext wheat last week, the exchange said.
($1 = 0.9153 euros)
Reporting by Gus Trompiz in Paris and Michael Hogan in Hamburg
Editing by David Goodman
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