Friday, 20 March 2015 01:40
PARIS: European wheat prices rose to a new seven-week high in late trade on Thursday on technical buying with support from good export demand as EU wheat continues to benefit from the lower euro against the dollar.
May milling wheat, the benchmark on the Paris-based Euronext market’s established No. 2 wheat contract, closed at 194.50 euros a tonne, up 1.2 percent, after hitting a new 7-week high of 195.00 euros just before the close.
EU soft wheat export licences remained at a record pace after the EU this week granted a hefty 780,000 tonnes, taking the total since the beginning of the season to 23.7 million tonnes, up from 21.9 million by the same stage last season.
The euro shed more than 2 percent on Thursday as the dollar rebounded from its biggest daily fall in 18 months the previous day.
US wheat export sales stood at 490,000 tonnes this week.
Concerns about crop damage in the United States following the cold winter sparked an early round of buying in Chicago, but the benchmark May contract hit resistance and turned lower, with the dollar’s strength adding further pressure.
Brokers said activity was very small on the cash market due to a lack of demand.
Copyright Reuters, 2015
