Paris wheat futures edged higher on Wednesday, supported by a firm trend in Chicago, as traders assessed a flurry of tenders by importing countries that suggested mixed export prospects for Western European wheat. December milling wheat on the Paris-based Euronext exchange was up 0.25 euros, or 0.2%, at 171.25 euros ($189.37) a tonne at 1544 GMT. The contract earlier equalled Monday's four-week high of 172 euros but continued to face technical resistance at that level.
"Today you can see support from Chicago and Matif (Euronext) is holding around recent highs, but I struggle to see prices going much higher as there is so much wheat around," a futures dealer said. Wheat markets drew some support from a run of import tenders, including by Algeria, Egypt and Tunisia. But the reaction was tempered by signs that top French wheat buyer Algeria may be curbing imports, while offers in an ongoing Egyptian tender underlined stiff competition.
Algeria's state grains agency bought up to 600,000 tonnes of wheat in an import tender on Tuesday, traders said on Wednesday. However, the purchase for November shipment, which was expected to be sourced mainly from France, failed to offset disappointment that Algeria had skipped the October period amid efforts by the country's authorities to reduce its import bill.
Offers in a tender by Egypt showed that French wheat remained penalised by freight rates compared with Black Sea origins with shorter shipping routes to Egypt. In Germany, lower prices offered in export markets by rivals in the Baltic Sea region continued to weigh on sentiment. "The export outlook remains depressed," one German trader said. "Other exporters in the Baltic region, especially Lithuania, are looking considerably cheaper than Germany in export markets." Baltic origins including Lithuanian wheat were seen as being in contention to fill some of the Algerian purchase alongside French wheat, traders said.