European wheat prices were flat on Wednesday in light trade ahead of a long holiday weekend in many European countries and nearly unchanged US markets. The price of May milling wheat on Paris-based Euronext was unchanged by 1453 GMT at 167 euros a tonne. Further delivery months were also unchanged for a total volume traded of around 15,000 by 1455 GMT.
"The rise of temperatures in coming days is pushing traders to some cautiousness," French consultancy Agritel said in a note. By Wednesday 15 out of 96 departments in mainland France were facing water restrictions, the environment ministry said in a bulletin. Traders will have to wait until Monday to know the impact of weather on crops as farm office FranceAgriMer delayed until Monday its weekly crop ratings, usually released on Friday, because of the holiday weekend.
Operators were also keeping an eye on Spain where dry weather has caused concern in the past weeks. A farmers' association estimated this month that Spain's cereal harvest, excluding maize, could fall by half compared with last year due to dry weather. Weekly exports slowed down this week, at 97,000 tonnes, the lowest level since March 21 when it had exported just 1,000 tonnes more.