HAMBURG: European wheat futures in Paris fell on Tuesday, pressured by improved crop weather in rival exporter Russia and concern over the worldwide surge in COVID-19 cases.

Benchmark December milling wheat on the Paris-based Euronext exchange unoffically closed with a decline of 2 euros, or 0.9%, at 205.25 euros ($242.58) a tonne, the lowest level since October 15.

The most active wheat contract on the Chicago Board of Trade was also down in early Tuesday trade, slipping by 0.1%. “The market is looking for something to justify a rebound. On the supply side, rainfall in Russia should relieve crops a bit; while on the demand side, the economic outlook is gloomy with the second wave of coronavirus hitting hard,” one trader said.

Weather conditions have improved for Russia’s 2021 grain crop after it rained in several regions last week, the Sovecon agriculture consultancy said on Monday.

In Germany, a busy programme of ships loading wheat is expected to continue in November and December.

“German ports are loading wheat for important importers such as Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Morocco, with Russian prices currently looking higher than German,” one German trader said.

“French prices are still looking relatively high. Unless there is a sudden price fall in these two countries, we are expecting a series of purchases in recent tenders to be supplied from Germany.” Another ship is expected to start loading about 30,000 tonnes of wheat in Germany for Algeria next week. A series of vessels have recently sailed for Britain with smaller consignments of about 4,000 tonnes as Brexit uncertainty prompts British flour mills to buy German wheat.—Reuters