Euronext wheat flat after four-week low

Euronext wheat ended flat on Thursday, steadying after an earlier four-week low, as a rally in Chicago soybeans following US government crop forecasts lent support to cereals. December milling wheat on Paris-based Euronext settled unchanged on the day at 161.75 euros ($191.54) a tonne.
It earlier touched a new four-week low of 160.50 euros before steadying in late trading after the release of the US Department of Agriculture's (USDA) monthly supply/demand report. Lower than expected USDA forecasts for US soybean supply triggered sharp gains in Chicago soybean futures, which helped US corn and wheat futures edge higher.
However, trading volumes remained modest with the USDA report coming out shortly before the European close and with many traders attending the European Commodities Exchange in Brussels, a major grain industry gathering that runs to Friday. The USDA report also underscored ample global supply of wheat, with the agency raising its outlook for world wheat stocks in 2017/18 above analyst expectations to a new record.
The recent weakness in European futures has reflected stiff export competition resulting from swelling global supplies, including a record Russian harvest. Weekly European Union data showed soft wheat exports so far in 2017/18 were running 35 percent below last season's level.
The data also showed just 10,000 tonnes of exports in the latest week, which although subject to revision in the coming weeks suggests a slow export pace was continuing. A new two-week high for the euro against the dollar on Thursday underlined the tough export context.
In Germany, cash premiums in Hamburg were marked up to compensate for the earlier fall in Paris, but with the focus again on sales of bread-quality wheat as higher priced animal feed. Standard bread wheat with 12 percent protein content was offered for sale at 0.5 euro over Paris December contract for October delivery in Hamburg against level Paris on Wednesday.
"Milling wheat demand is low with the euro so firm. The main interest is selling into the feed wheat market where prices are higher than in bread wheat sector," one German trader said. Feed wheat in the South Oldenburg market was offered for sale at 170 euros a tonne for October/December delivery, with buyers offering around 169 euros. In a monthly crop report, analyst firm Strategie Grains raised slightly its estimate of this year's EU soft wheat crop and also projected a slight rise in the wheat area sown for next year's harvest.