PARIS: Euronext wheat was lower for a second day on Friday, retreating further from three-month highs as traders booked profits and worries subsided over tightening Black Sea supplies.
December wheat on Paris-based Euronext was down 2.2% at 227.25 euros ($249.16) a metric ton by 1535 GMT, moving away from Wednesday’s peak of 235.00 euros.
Over the week, the contract was up nearly 3%. Chicago wheat similarly dropped for a second session, with further pressure from a rise in the dollar following stronger than anticipated monthly jobs figures. Wheat markets rallied this week as drought affecting sowing in Russia, talk of possible export restrictions by Moscow and worries over war escalation in Ukraine and the Middle East fuelled doubts over Black Sea export supplies.
Talk that Turkey may only slightly ease a wheat import ban that runs to Oct. 15 helped cool prices. Turkey’s flour mills are seeking a relaxation of the ban, the mills’ association said on Friday, with the trade ministry saying no decision had been taken yet. “I think there is not enough bullish news today to maintain the upward momentum with Russian wheat still cheap and moving into export markets in large volumes,” one German trader said.
“It looks like Turkey may continue a restrictive system and that would certainly not mean the flood gates for imports are being opened,” the trader said. Egyptian plans to use more corn or sorghum in state-subsided bread, meanwhile, had also cooled reaction to a report it had agree a large import deal covering Black Sea wheat. An import tender being held by Saudi Arabia drew a muted response because of the moderate volume sought and expectations that Russian supplies will dominate.
Traders said 12.5% protein Russian wheat for October Black Sea shipment was on Friday quoted around $225-$232 a ton FOB, up from $217-$220 late last week, but still at least around $30 a ton cheaper than German 12.5% wheat and $15 a ton under Romanian.
In France, farmers have hardly started maize harvesting and wheat and barley sowing after the wettest September in 25 years, data from farm office FranceAgriMer showed. Showers in the next 10 days in Europe were expected to keep the pace of maize harvesting and wheat seeding slow, the Commodity Weather Group said.
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