Reuters
PARIS (Reuters) – European wheat prices rose on Tuesday on news that Algeria was seeking wheat, a tender in which European-grown wheat has a good chance of making up the bulk of final shipments, traders said. * “We were waiting for demand, and demand for European wheat is now materialising,” one trader said, noting that EU wheat was currently the most competitively priced for most Mediterranean countries. * Egypt, the world’s largest wheat importer, resumed purchases of French wheat earlier this month, signalling an export shift as Russian supplies sell out. * Traders also pointed to exports of between two and four cargoes of French wheat to Morocco, which plans to lift its 17 percent import duty on soft wheat from Oct. 1 through Dec. 31, according to state radio. * Port data gathered by Reuters had showed a significant slowdown in wheat shipments out of French ports in recent weeks, although the pace of exports to Algeria remained strong. * By 1101 GMT front month November was 0.6 percent higher at 262.00 euros a tonne. * Wheat output from the world’s second-largest exporter Australia may fall below 20 million tonnes during the 2012/13 season due to a dry spell across Western Australia, analysts say, which would further tighten global supplies and stoke prices. * The U.S. wheat harvest was seen growing to a four-year high in government data due out on Friday, adding to the large domestic stockpile of the crop as high prices have chilled demand for U.S. supplies on the export market. * Maize prices were firm but less so than wheat, further widening the gap between the two grains’ prices, as the French harvest arrives in silos still filled with winter grains. Prices at 1153 GMT Paris wheat 262.00 1.25 +0.48 202.50 29.38 London wheat 205.10 0.45 +0.22 153.65 33.49 Paris maize 241.25 -6.00 -2.43 196.75 22.62 Paris rape 498.25 -20.50 -3.95 438.25 13.69 CBOT wheat 905.75 15.75 +1.77 652.75 38.76 CBOT corn 750.50 1.75 +0.23 646.60 16.07 CBOT soy 1623.50 -122.25 -7.00 1198.50 35.46 Crude oil 92.89 -4.12 -4.25 98.83 -6.01 Euro/dlr 1.29 0.03 +2.01 1.30 -0.18 * Paris futures prices in Euros per tonne, London wheat in pounds per tonne and CBOT in cents per bushel. (Reporting by Valerie Parent; Writing by Sybille de La Hamaide; Editing by Catherine Evans)
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