HAMBURG/PARIS: European wheat futures rose on Monday and hit two-week highs, still underpinned by last week’s technical rebound, but lacking fresh impetus amid a holiday closure on US markets.

Euronext saw strong rises last week on buying interest after hitting 5-1/2 month lows. December milling wheat, the most-active position on the Paris-based Euronext, was up 0.2% at 217 euros ($240.09) per metric ton at 1430 GMT. The contract earlier hit its highest since Aug. 19 at 218.25 euros as it extended its recovery from a 5-1/2 month low of 204.75 euros last Monday.

“Matif (Euronext) recouped 10-12 euros in a short space of time. The market was near contract lows on December and technically oversold,” a futures dealer said.

“But Russian wheat remains much more competitive so that limits the price rebound.” Crop setbacks in the European Union, including the worst French wheat harvest since the 1980s, have helped underpin prices, but ample global supply and stiff export competition from Black Sea origins have kept a lid on the market.

Australia, another major exporter, sharply increased its official forecast for its upcoming harvest following rain in key cropping regions. In France, export activity remained light, with barley loadings for China continuing to account for the bulk of grain shipments, data compiled by LSEG showed.

Traders said Moroccan buyers were thought to have booked several cargoes of French wheat last week, with talk that merchants would draw on large stocks of better-quality wheat from last year’s harvest like in other early season loadings. “I think rises are restrained by very low prices offered by Russia in export markets and a lack of new import demand so far this week,” a German trader said. Russian 12.5% protein wheat was on Monday quoted at about $215-$216 a ton FOB for September Black Sea shipment.