London wheat futures finished on a mostly weaker note on Friday after a minor bout of selling activity by a handful of co-operatives and speculators helped to put old crop positions back in negative territory, dealers said.
Some limited consumer buying interest was in evidence during the day, they added, while shippers looked on in the hope that values would slide low enough to make UK wheat competitive again on export markets.
All old crop positions ended 1.40 pounds a tonne down, with most active May ending at 109.60 pounds, the lowest point of the day, on volume of 102 lots.
New crop November closed steady at 85.50 pounds on volume of 30 lots from a total daily turnover of 132 lots.
"There was a bit of co-op and spec selling around, although we did see some consumption interest too," a broker said.
"But there's still a strong focus on exports. Shippers, who weren't really active sellers in the market today, still can't find a market at these levels," he added.
Strong price rises towards the end of 2003 and strengthening sterling against the euro have conspired have dented the UK's chances of getting overseas business in recent weeks.
Traders said the UK has sold around 1.5 million tonnes of wheat in the six months to end-December, leaving up to 600,000 tonnes still left to shift from this season's estimated export surplus.
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