PARIS: Euronext wheat rose to a two-year high on Monday as worries about reduced export supplies from South America continued to stir grain markets.
Front-month March milling wheat on Paris-based Euronext settled up 1.00 euro, or 0.5%, at 214.25 euros ($262.58) a tonne.
It earlier climbed to 216.25 euros, a life of contract peak and a highest spot price since August 2018, before paring gains as Chicago futures turned lower after fresh six-year highs in overnight trading.
Dry crop weather in South America and disruption to exports from Argentina has unsettled investors at a time of brisk Chinese demand that has eroded worldwide grain supply.
“Wheat is a follower in a grain complex driven by corn and soybeans, with insatiable Chinese demand and South American weather at play,” consultancy Agritel said in a note.
Wheat has also been underpinned by its own supply factors, with uncertainty over Argentine exports adding to concern over Russian measures to curb its shipments and a dwindling surplus in western Europe.
“Only a large-scale entry of India onto the export market could cool current upward momentum,” Agritel said of wheat.
The focus on tightening supply helped Euronext brush off a sharp rise in the euro against the dollar.
Euronext maize (corn) and rapeseed futures also struck fresh highs.
March maize rose to a contract high of 201.75 euros before easing back below the 200 euro threshold to settle unchanged at 198.50 euros.
February rapeseed ended up 0.8% at 421.50 euros after earlier climbing to 424.00 euros, a life of contract peak and the highest spot price in nearly three years.
European Union data showed that soft wheat exports from the EU and Britain so far this season had reached 12.86 million tonnes, down 15% from a year earlier.
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