Euronext wheat futures little changed

Euronext wheat futures ended little changed on Monday, recovering from contract lows fuelled by investor worries over a US threat to raise tariffs on Chinese goods. Late frosts across France and elsewhere in western Europe failed to support Euronext, with traders saying it was too early to evaluate any crop damage.
Benchmark September milling wheat on Paris-based Euronext settled 0.50 euros, or 0.3 percent, lower at 171 euros ($191.49) a tonne. It had earlier fallen to 169.75 euros - a life-of-contract low and a fresh one-year low for a second-month position on Euronext - but recovered to hold chart support around 170 euros.
Wheat and other grain futures in Chicago slid after Sunday's announcement by US President Donald Trump that he planned to raise tariffs on Chinese goods this week, clouding prospects for a trade deal that had been expected to boost US grain exports. Chicago wheat later recouped most of its fall, with losses concentrated in soybeans and corn.
Selling pressure in other markets outweighed concern about potential frost damage to European wheat. Temperatures hit a record low for May in parts of France overnight, the country's public weather service said on Monday.
"This (frost) risk doesn't seem sufficient for now to push the market back up," consultancy Agritel said. "Geopolitics is dominating at the start of the week, with Euronext following the drop in Chicago amid the threat that US-Chinese trade negotiations may fail."
Weekly European Union data showed that the bloc had exported 17.1 million tonnes of soft wheat so far in the 2018/19 season that ends on June 30, remaining 4 percent below last season's pace. The results of a large barley import tender by Saudi Arabia also failed to boost export sentiment on the western European grain market, with aggressive prices considered likely to favour Black Sea supplies.
In Germany, wheat premiums in Hamburg were little changed as sellers declined to follow the fall in Paris. Standard bread wheat with 12 percent protein for April delivery in Hamburg was offered for sale flat at about 4 euros over Paris May.
"The good programme of ship loadings in Germany is stabilising the market," one German trader said. "But there is little purchase interest today as buyers are hoping for further weakness in Euronext." One ship has sailed in the past week with 50,000 tonnes of German wheat for South Africa, another loaded 30,000 tonnes for Saudi Arabia, plus one of about 30,000 tonnes for Guinea and another with 10,000 tonnes for Mauritius, traders said.