Euronext wheat slips further to two-week low

Euronext wheat fell for third session on Wednesday to its lowest in almost two weeks as a lull in export demand and rainfall in key wheat growing zones maintained pressure on prices, dealers said.

A subdued mood across commodities, as investors weighed economic risks to demand, also hung over grain markets.

December wheat BL2Z3 on Paris-based Euronext was down 1% at 232.25 euros ($245.74) a metric ton by 1440 GMT.

The contract earlier touched its weakest since Oct. 12 as the breaching of chart support this week reinforced the downward trend.

Chicago wheat Wv1 extended losses, with additional pressure coming from a firmer dollar.

After talk of more Chinese import demand and supply tensions in India pushed up prices last week, dealers said limited export news, including a lack of tenders by major importers, was weighing on the wheat market.

Attention has also shifted back towards competition from the Black Sea region.

In Russia, the grain harvest in 2023 is seen at 140 million metric tons, its second-largest ever, TASS news agency quoted a government minister as saying on Tuesday.

About 700,000 metric tons of grain have been exported through Ukraine’s new Black Sea corridor, the country’s agriculture minister said on Tuesday, adding to expectations that the war-torn country is reviving grain shipments.

On the supply side, concerns have eased following rain relief in drought-affected southern hemisphere exporters Australia and Argentina, as well as widespread rain expected this week in European and U.S. wheat belts where farmers are sowing crops for next year’s harvest.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Gus Trompiz; editing by Jonathan Oatis)