European wheat prices rose on Thursday, buoyed by US markets where prices surged on signs of strong export demand. May milling wheat settled 1.75 euros or 1.2 percent higher at 153 euros a tonne. New crop September rose 2.75 euros or 1.7 percent to 164.75 euros a tonne. In Europe, the EU granted export licences for 599,000 tonnes of soft wheat this week, taking the total since the beginning of the 2015/16 season on July 1 to 25.1 million tonnes, still down 9 percent compared with the same stage in 2014/15.
Cash prices were rising, with the previously negative premium now at zero for spot delivery Dunkirk, pulled by the looming expiration of the May contract on Euronext, the last one for the current season. Russia is likely to extend its wheat export tax for the 2016/17 marketing year, which starts on July 1, because the levy is at a minimum level under current market conditions, traders and analysts said.
Wheat prices were also pulled higher by maize, which benefited from lower availabilities in Ukraine. In Chicago, grain prices were boosted by good export sales data. Concern about crops in South America sparked interest in US supplies from overseas buyers, who typically source the bulk of their corn and soybeans needs from Brazil and Argentina at this time of year. Algerian feed makers' office ONAB tendered to buy 30,000 tonnes of corn from the United States or Latin America for shipment in June 1-15, European traders said on Thursday.
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