European wheat prices dipped to a seven-week low on Tuesday, still pressured by hefty global supplies which were also weighing on US markets. December milling wheat on the Paris-based Euronext, closed down 1.1 percent at 159.25 euros a tonne unofficially, the lowest since July 15.
Operators were awaiting the results of Algeria's milling wheat tender which closes on Wednesday. They expect offers for German, US, British, Polish, Swedish and Lithuanian wheat. Despite the small size of this year's harvest there could also be some French wheat offers, they said. Algeria is traditionally France's largest wheat purchaser but the poor French crop this year means other origins will take a share of the market.
Traders said state buyer OAIC had not changed its tender specifications, notably the maximum bug damage level, which, if lowered, could open the door to Black Sea wheat, or the specific weight measure, which is particularly poor in France this year. In a new sign of ample supplies world-wide, Russia's IKAR agriculture consultancy upgraded its forecast for Russia's 2016 wheat crop by 2 million tonnes to 72 million tonnes. German cash market premiums were marked up to compensate for early day weakness in Paris and on hopes of more export business with Algeria tendering.