European wheat prices fell to new contract lows on Monday, still recovering from a bearish US government report on Friday and pressured by a surge of the euro against the dollar, traders said. March milling wheat on Paris-based Euronext unofficially closed at a contract low of 155.75 euros a tonne.
European wheat was catching up some of the steep fall recorded in Chicago on Friday. US wheat fell about 3 percent after the US Department of Agriculture estimated 2018 US plantings larger than analysts anticipated. The Chicago Board of Trade futures were closed for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday on Monday. The euro climbed to a three-year high against the dollar, nearing $1.23, against a backdrop of growing economic optimism in the euro zone.
Despite the fall in prices, French producers remained reluctant to sell their grains on the cash market, brokers said. In Germany, cash market premiums in Hamburg followed Paris down. Standard bread wheat with 12 percent protein content for February delivery in Hamburg was offered for sale at about 3.5 euros over Paris March, down 0.5 euro.
Feed wheat prices in Germany's South Oldenburg market were again sharply above milling wheat, with February delivery offered for sale at around 173 euros a tonne and buyers seeking 171 euros. Barley premiums firmed on hopes some German supplies may be used in a major purchase by Saudi Arabia of about 1 million tonnes of feed barley on Monday. German barley for January-May delivery in Hamburg was offered at 1 euro under Paris against 3 euros under on Friday. In Poland, some internal market prices were also higher than in ports because of slack exports.
Polish millers were offering to buy 12.5 percent protein wheat at 660-690 zloty a tonne (158.2-165.4 euros) delivered to mills in January, unchanged on the week. Export prices for 12.5 percent protein wheat fell 5 zloty on the week to around 680 zloty a tonne for delivery to port silos in January.