EU wheat rebound stalls as Black Sea supply weighs
Adds closing prices
PARIS, July 18 (Reuters) -European wheat futures were little changed on Thursday as a rebound from a four-month low stalled amid stiff export competition from Black Sea supplies.
Front-month September wheat BL2U4 on Euronext settled unchanged on the day at 215.00 euros ($234.63) a metric ton.
The contract had recovered from Tuesday's four-month low of 211.50 euros, but faced technical resistance from a chart gap opened during a slide on Monday.
Deferred positions on Euronext ended slightly lower.
Chicago wheat Wv1 eased as a day-earlier bounce petered out. GRA/
The wheat market drew some support this week from large purchases by Egypt and Algeria.
However, western European wheat was set to miss out.
"It is supportive that the big importers Algeria and Egypt together bought around 1.5 million tons of wheat in tenders this week which is a lot to be taken out of market supply," one German trader said.
"But the optimism was dampened by the low Black Sea prices, especially in Algeria's purchase, with the west EU looking too expensive to win many export sales."
Of the 700,000 to 750,000 tons of optional-origin wheat bought by Algeria on Wednesday, traders estimated that about 550,000 tons could be sourced from Russia, 120,000 tons from Ukraine with the rest from Bulgaria.
Russian 11.5% protein wheat for August Black Sea shipment was on Thursday around $207 a ton FOB and Ukrainian 11.5% around $215 a ton FOB, which traders said was around $20 a ton cheaper than the west EU.
Russian 12.5% protein wheat was at $217-$218 a ton FOB, also about $20 under west EU prices.
In France, the EU's top wheat exporter, there was concern about a dearth of export demand for wheat, even if harvest supply set to shrink.
"We're going to have to get going with exports at some point," Argus analyst Sebastien Poncelet said.
The International Grains Council (IGC) on Thursday increased its 2024/25 world wheat crop outlook, underscoring ample global supply in the short term.
The IGC also revised up its world corn production forecast, though traders are wary of weather losses to corn in the Black Sea region, which could have knock-on effects on the wheat market.
"The heatwave persisting in the Black Sea region is ravaging corn crops and it could be a game-changer for the grain market," Poncelet said.
($1 = 0.9163 euros)
Reporting by Gus Trompiz in Paris and Michael Hogan in Hamburg; editing by David Evans
Latest News
Disclaimer: The XM Group entities provide execution-only service and access to our Online Trading Facility, permitting a person to view and/or use the content available on or via the website, is not intended to change or expand on this, nor does it change or expand on this. Such access and use are always subject to: (i) Terms and Conditions; (ii) Risk Warnings; and (iii) Full Disclaimer. Such content is therefore provided as no more than general information. Particularly, please be aware that the contents of our Online Trading Facility are neither a solicitation, nor an offer to enter any transactions on the financial markets. Trading on any financial market involves a significant level of risk to your capital.
All material published on our Online Trading Facility is intended for educational/informational purposes only, and does not contain – nor should it be considered as containing – financial, investment tax or trading advice and recommendations; or a record of our trading prices; or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instruments; or unsolicited financial promotions to you.
Any third-party content, as well as content prepared by XM, such as: opinions, news, research, analyses, prices and other information or links to third-party sites contained on this website are provided on an “as-is” basis, as general market commentary, and do not constitute investment advice. To the extent that any content is construed as investment research, you must note and accept that the content was not intended to and has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such, it would be considered as marketing communication under the relevant laws and regulations. Please ensure that you have read and understood our Notification on Non-Independent Investment. Research and Risk Warning concerning the foregoing information, which can be accessed here.
