LONDON: European wheat prices fell on Wednesday, with continued stiff competition from Russia and Ukraine diminishing the outlook for European Union export sales.

Benchmark December milling wheat on Paris-based Euronext fell by 1.5% to 211.00 euros by 1613 GMT, also dragged down by a decline in Chicago wheat futures.

“Russian 12.5% protein prices are increasingly being quoted below $230 a ton FOB and 11.5% under $220, a level the west EU cannot realistically compete with among the main Arab and African importers,” one German trader said. Traders also said cheap new crop Argentine wheat was being offered to Asian and African buyers while diplomatic tensions between Algiers and Paris led to France’s exclusion from an Algerian wheat import tender.