European wheat prices rose on Wednesday on hopes for a boost in export demand linked to a drop in global prices, a fall in freight rates and a weaker euro versus the dollar which makes euro-denominated products more competitive on world markets. December milling wheat, the benchmark on Paris-based Euronext, was 1.00 euro or 0.6 percent higher by 1705 GMT to 176.25 euros a tonne.
"The combination of the weaker euro, markets and freight rates mean that the European origin, especially French, is one of the cheapest on the world market," a trader said. Another added that the drop in prices was such that it offset the freight advantage of Russian wheat to Egypt.
A rare cargo was expected on Thursday in the southern port of Fos-sur-Mer to load around 6,000 tonnes of soft wheat for Lebanon. "We will find many more unusual destinations like this one and for significant tonnages to swallow the available exportable surplus coming from the big harvest," a third trader said. The euro fell to a 7-month low on Wednesday as investors worried about the impact on the euro zone economy of the Paris attacks steered clear of the common currency. France's farm ministry on Wednesday left unchanged its monthly estimates of this year's soft wheat harvest at 41 million tonnes, up 9.3 percent from last year and 14.3 percent above the average of the past five years.
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