Euronext wheat flat after 7-week high

08 Sep, 2020

PARIS: Euronext wheat ended little changed on Friday near a seven-week high, as Chicago grain futures consolidated following a rally and traders looked ahead to US crop data next week.

Benchmark December milling wheat on Paris-based Euronext settled up 0.25 euro, or 0.1%, at 188.25 euros ($222.68) a tonne.

It earlier rose to 189.00 euros, equalling a seven-week high touched on Thursday, but continued to face chart resistance at that level.

Chicago wheat turned lower after rising earlier in the day. The US market was heading into a three-day holiday weekend and also waiting for US crop ratings and harvest forecasts next week.

Grain markets have been buoyed this week by brisk Chinese demand for US grain, along with concern over weather damage to Midwest crops.

Wheat markets had been further supported by a rise in Russian export prices but these eased back towards the end of the week.

In France, cash premiums declined amid a lull in export activity and as domestic demand also waned with traders waiting for the maize harvest to get under way, brokers said.

French wheat shipments outside the European Union were at their lowest for August in four years, Refinitiv data showed.

The condition of French maize crops declined slightly in the week to Aug. 31, data from farm office FranceAgriMer showed.

In Germany, attention was turning to domestic demand as Poland and the Baltic States continued to offer cheaper export prices.

"There is good domestic demand from flour mills and animal feed producers," one German trader said. "Germany's harvest this summer was decent quality so there is very little low-quality feed wheat available from the new crop," the trader said.

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