EU Wheat Ends Narrowly Mixed

In a subdued day of trading Nov London wheat closed GBP0.15 higher at GBP103.65/tonne, and Nov Paris wheat EUR0.25 lower at EUR139.75/tonne.

London wheat had been lower for most of the day as the pound briefly broke through 1.50 against the US dollar and 1.22 versus the euro.

But the surge to what was it's best in more than a month against the greenback, and it's highest in 19 months against the euro was relatively short-lived. That allowed London futures to recover losses close to the end of the session.

France are thought to have picked up a useful 400,000 MT export order to Algeria overnight, which was helpful to Paris wheat.

The IGC surprised the market by issuing a revised production estimate for world wheat in 2010/11 that was 4 MMT higher than last month, although the did also raise consumption by 4 MMT too, leaving ending stocks unchanged at 201 MMT.

Other analysts are reducing their production estimates, with Coceral yesterday lopping around a million tonnes off their EU-27 ideas. Earlier in the week Rabobank cut their world wheat estimate to 660 MMT, citing dryness in parts of Europe, high levels of winterkill in the Black Sea region and acute wetness in Canada.

According to a report by the Saskatchewan Government released after the close of the EU markets, only 76% of crops in the province have been seeded as of June 21st. Normally all the crops would be in the ground by now, and the deadline for crop insurance is now passed. Saskatchewan is Canada's leading wheat province growing 58 percent of the national wheat crop.