HAMBURG/PARIS: European wheat prices were slightly firmer on Monday, with the market lacklustre in slack import demand and export-punishing firmness in the euro capping gains.
Benchmark March milling wheat on the Paris-based Euronext exchange, was up 0.1% at 227.75 euros ($241.12) a metric ton at 1621 GMT. Front-month December, which expires on Tuesday, was down 1.5% at 213.25 euros. Traders said there are hardly any purchase tenders in the market, with big importers on the sidelines. “With slack demand from Algeria and Egypt there is not a lot to pull the market higher,” a trader said.
Traders were also waiting for the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) world supply and demand estimates due to be released on Tuesday. Cheap Russian wheat also provided tough competition to EU supplies in export markets. “Russian prices remain low despite the hefty increase in export taxes on Friday,” one German trader said.
Source: Brecorder