European wheat prices ended the week on a softer tone on Friday as traders saw little fundamental news to support a further rise following the previous day's gains, with prices also failing to break above key resistance. December milling wheat on Paris-based Euronext was 1.00 euro or 0.6 percent lower by 1643 GMT at 162.00 euros ($187.9) a tonne.
"We will need to monitor the cold weather, notably in Eastern Europe, but fundamentally there is little out there to be bullish in the long run," a trader said, pointing to large global supplies. Prices rose in early trade but turned lower after failing to break resistance at 163.50 euros.
Sowing of soft wheat for next year's harvest was 79 percent complete by Monday, up from 63 percent a week before and above the year-earlier 75 percent, weekly data from farm office FranceAgriMer showed. German cash premiums in Hamburg were flat, with German exports remaining weak and the main demand again coming from the animal feed industry.
Standard bread wheat with 12 percent protein content was offered for sale unchanged at 2.5 euros over the Paris December contract for November delivery in Hamburg. Buyers were offering 1.5 to 2 euros over. "The EU figures on Thursday showed a dramatic 25 percent fall in EU wheat exports so far this season and there is no real improvement in sight with Russian exports running at record volumes without significant logistics problems," one German trader said.
"Without Romania's big exports the EU figures would have been down even more, Germany and Poland have had a very poor start to the season and there is not really any fundamental improvement on the horizon." With German export demand low, attention was again on sales of milling wheat for animal feed as prices for feed were higher than for bread wheat. Feed wheat in the South Oldenburg market was again quoted above milling wheat, offered for sale up 1 euro at 174 euros a tonne for November/December delivery, with buyers offering around 174 euros.