EU wheat stays weak as harvests and exports weigh
Updates with close, changes quote, adds French producers' harvest comment
PARIS, July 30 (Reuters) -Euronext wheat futures fell for a sixth straight session on Tuesday, pressured by harvest supply and export competition in the northern hemisphere, though signs Russian prices could be bottoming out lent some support.
September wheat BL2U4 on Paris-based Euronext settled 0.3% down at 215.25 euros ($232.75) a metric ton, having earlier touched its lowest since July 18 at 214.25 euros.
Chicago wheat Wv1 fell near to Monday's four-year low, pressured by favourable U.S. crop prospects. GRA/
Wheat prices have been driven down by favourable U.S. and Russian harvest volumes and export competition from Russian and other Black Sea wheat. GRA/EU
Results in a Tunisian tender, in which the importer booked 125,000 tons of optional-origin soft wheat, suggested more sales for Black Sea wheat despite the recent drop in French prices.
"The price gap is narrowing but we could face months of being a few dollars too expensive," a futures dealer said of French export competitiveness.
At the same time, traders and analysts have reported that export prices in Russia have steadied in the past week, supported by slow farmer selling.
Weekly data showed European Union soft wheat exports in the first four weeks of the 2024/25 season were down 38% from a year earlier, though some figures for France were still missing.
In France, farmers were expected to make progress in harvesting during a hot spell early in the week after torrential rain at the weekend.
Storms forecast from later on Tuesday could interrupt field work again.
Traders said harvest reports suggested that rain-hit yields remained disappointing, including in major northern crop belts, and that production below the 29-year low of 27.6 million tons hit in 2016 was increasingly expected.
Wheat producer group AGPB said on Tuesday that the French crop could drop as low as 26 million tons, calling for emergency government aid for growers.
($1 = 0.9248 euros)
Reporting by Gus Trompiz
Editing by David Goodman
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