EU wheat extends run as report of missile strike adds to Black Sea concerns
PARIS, Sept 12 (Reuters) -Euronext wheat futures rose for a third day on Thursday to reach a new one-month peak as reports that a grain vessel had been hit by a missile in the Black Sea kept the focus on supply risks in the vital export zone.
Gains were moderate, however, with grain markets awaiting the U.S. Department of Agriculture's widely followed monthly crop report later on Thursday.
December wheat BL2Z4, the most active position on Paris-based Euronext, was up 0.9% up at 225.00 euros ($248.29) a metric ton by 1532 GMT.
The contract earlier reached 226.50 euros, its highest since Aug. 9, above Wednesday's peak of 223.50 euros.
After drawing support this week from signs that weather and war damage could curb Russian supply, prices found further impetus on news that a bulk carrier had been damaged after leaving Ukraine.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the vessel carrying Ukrainian grain to Egypt had been hit by a Russian missile just after it exited Ukrainian territorial waters.
Romanian authorities said the ship had not been in its waters, while Russia did not immediately comment.
But like with previous attacks on vessels and ports on the Black Sea coast during Russia's invasion of Ukraine, traders said reaction was moderate in the absence of wider disruption to grain shipments.
News that Egypt purchased 430,000 tons of Russian wheat in a deal reported by Reuters and later confirmed by Egyptian state buyer GASC, also supported the market by showing ongoing demand for competitively priced Russian grain.
Strategie Grains further reduced its forecast for soft wheat production in the European Union in 2024 to a 12-year low as the consultancy cut again its estimate of the rain-hit French harvest.
($1 = 0.9062 euros)
Reporting by Gus Trompiz
Editing by Alexandra Hudson
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