London feed wheat futures closed lower after a subdued session that saw more co-operative selling of new crop contracts, dealers said.
Nearby November wheat ended 55 pence down at 67.35 pounds a tonne, but attracted only 57 lots of the total 239 traded.
May 2005 lost a similar amount to close at 73 pounds on 150 lots.
"The co-operatives were out again but a lot of sales seemed to be linked to some book-tidying activity. There wasn't really all that much volume in it today. Consumers were also there to catch them, but again it's a game of cat and mouse between them at the moment," a broker said.
November-May spread trading was also evident again at around 5.65 pounds a tonne, the broker added.
Dealers said the focus remained on the upcoming harvest as speculation about its size and quality continued to grow.
"There's still (buying) support on November at around the 67-pound mark. If that resistance level breaks lower, it'll be interesting to see where we land," said a trader,
Figures published by Britain's home-grown Cereals Authority (HGCA) showed farmers planted wheat on 1.966 million hectares for the 2004 harvest, seven percent more than was sown for the previous year's crop.
Traders say the estimate could mean a 2004 wheat crop of up to 16 million tonnes, compared with the 14.3 million harvested last year.
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