European wheat futures were flat to lower on Thursday as wheat markets continued to see spillover pressure from corn as operators anticipate an easing in supply tensions. Paris futures remained rangebound, however, with operators looking ahead to monthly supply/demand estimates from the US government on Friday for fresh impetus.
March milling wheat on the Paris futures market was unchanged on the day at 246.00 euros a tonne by 1409 GMT. The contract earlier dropped to 244.25 euros, matching a three-week low set earlier this week. In subdued trade in Paris, much of the volume reflected operators adjusting their positions between the March and May contracts, dealers said. On London's feed wheat market, May was off 2.00 pounds or 0.9 percent at 210.50 pounds a tonne, after touching 210.00 pounds, the lowest level for the contract since January 11.
US wheat eased under pressure from a two-week low for corn amid expectations that slow demand and upcoming harvests will ease corn supply tensions created by a US drought last year. Traders and analysts anticipate that the US Department of Agriculture will raise its forecast for US corn ending stocks in Friday's report, even though the stockpile would remain at a 17-year low.
"There's no clear trend, we're staying in our range although with a bearish bias," one futures dealer said. Prices remained underpinned by tight global supply of grains, with growing import needs of countries like Brazil and Russia set to fuel sales by exporters like the United States and to a lesser extent the European Union.
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