European wheat futures edged higher on Thursday in step with Chicago, but the recovery from contract lows earlier this week remained limited in the face of stiff export competition. March milling wheat on the Paris-based Euronext exchange unofficially closed with a gain of 1 euro, or 0.6 percent, at 162.50 euros ($193.16) a tonne.
That took the benchmark further away from a life-of-contract low of 158.50 euros struck on Tuesday. "The price lows we saw clearly stirred some buying interest, but there isn't much else to create impetus, with hardly any weather worries and no winter freezing yet at Russian ports," one futures trader said. A huge 2017 harvest in Russia has intensified export competition and first projections for next year were pointing to another large Russian crop.
Weekly European Union data showed that EU soft wheat exports so far in 2017/18 were running 21 percent below last season's level at 8.5 million tonnes. A strengthening in the euro has increased difficulties for exporters of EU wheat this season. The euro rose to near $1.19 on Thursday, moving back towards Monday's two-month high of $1.1960. In Germany, cash premiums in Hamburg were little changed, with demand again largely coming from the animal feed industry instead of exports.
Standard bread wheat with 12 percent protein content for December delivery in Hamburg was offered for sale unchanged at 3 euros over the Paris December contract. Attention was turning to January delivery, offered for sale at 4 euros over Paris March. "Export loadings of wheat in German ports remain at a low level, with a ship this week taking on 65,000 tonnes for Saudi Arabia and another loading 25,000 tonnes for the Suez Canal, but this is not enough to buck up the market," one German trader said.
"There is some concern about German wheat sowings, with rain stopping a lot of winter wheat planting intentions in north German export regions." Feed wheat prices on Germany's South Oldenburg market were again above milling wheat, with December delivery offered at about 175 euros a tonne, with buyers around 174 euros.