IKAR in Mass and Industry Media

EU wheat futures ease but still set for weekly gain

Reuters

LONDON, March 1 (Reuters) - Milling wheat futures in Paris were slightly lower on Friday as economic concerns triggered a modest setback although the market remained on track for a weekly gain.

* Benchmark May milling wheat on the Paris futures market was off 0.50 euros or 0.2 percent at 238.75 euros a tonne by 1643 GMT. The contract was on track for a gain on the week of around 0.5 percent.

* Global equity markets fell sharply and the euro slumped to a two-month low on Friday as weak economic data from Europe and China weighed on sentiment.

* The market remained underpinned by the strong export pace.

* "EU exports are still running about 4 million tonnes ahead of last year's pace, with all-wheat exports reported at 14 million tonnes," Gleadell trading manager Jonathan Lane said in a market note.

* "However, exports from France are still below projections, and with their traditional export homes either purchasing from other sources, or sitting on adequate stocks awaiting domestic harvests, the likelihood remains that French ending-stocks will be increased rather than reduced," he added.

* May feed wheat in London rose a marginal 0.2 percent to 206.50 pounds a tonne with the UK currency even weaker than the euro.

* Dealers said there were continued difficulties finding markets for a poor quality UK wheat harvest while the pace of imports remained strong.

* "The old crop markets still feel heavy in parts of the UK, activity at ports importing feed and milling grades is high which all point to the UK building a surplus as we head into the last quarter (of the 2012/13 marketing year)," merchant Frontier Agriculture said in a market update.

* European Union grain production will total 287.6 million tonnes in 2013 - an increase of 5.6 percent compared with this year's harvest, the bloc's executive forecast on Friday.

* The possibility that Russian exports may rebound in 2013/14 also helped to keep a lid on the market.

* Russia, historically one of the world's largest wheat exporters, may harvest between 87 million and 92 million tonnes of grain in 2013/14, with an exportable surplus of about 22 million tonnes, the head of the Institute for Agricultural Market Studies (IKAR) said.

01.03.13

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