Euronext wheat was little changed on Friday in a quiet end to a choppy week as traders waited to see if weekend weather would confirm risks to crops in parts of Europe and the Black Sea region. December milling wheat the most active contracts on Paris-based Euronext, settled unchanged on the day at 186 euros ($218.94) a tonne.
A fall in the euro after a three-week high against the dollar on Thursday, lent some support and offset a drop in US wheat futures. Activity was restrained, with some traders away from their desks after a major gathering of the French grain industry in Burgundy on Thursday, while participants were also cautious ahead of next Tuesday's monthly world crop forecasts from the US government. The market remained underpinned by weather risks, with attention on dryness in northern Europe and the Black Sea region as well as wet conditions in France after a series of storms.
French soft wheat ratings were little changed last week, with 79 percent of crops rated good/excellent as of June 4, against 80 percent a week earlier, farm office FranceAgriMer said. Maize crop ratings fell more sharply, reflecting a steep decline in conditions in the southwest, where there has been heavy rain. French market participants were also assessing the risk of rolling rail strikes affecting the start of the new season in July, though a busy vessel-loading line-up suggested that exporters were managing to get supplies to port.
In Germany, cash market premiums in Hamburg were little changed as the market assessed the impact of dry weather. New-crop standard bread wheat for September delivery in Hamburg was offered for sale unchanged at 0.50 euros over Paris December. "Dryness is stressing crops in parts of north and east Germany and these areas are expected to stay dry at least up to Tuesday, so no relief is in sight," one German trader said.
"This week saw the first cuts in forecasts of Germany's harvest this year. Unless there is a dramatic change in the weather, I think more reductions could be made." Crops in central and south Germany are in generally good shape after beneficial rain in those regions, traders said.
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