Euronext wheat rose further on Thursday to set another one-month high as the market remained focused on the risk of prolonged disruption to Russian and Ukrainian exports due to an escalation in the war.
December wheat, the most-active contract on Euronext, was up 0.6% by 1607 GMT at €246.75 ($287.46) a metric ton.
The benchmark earlier rose to €249, its highest since July 24 when it had reached a contract high of €250.50.
Chicago wheat rose nearly 2% to hit another three-year top, adding to its limit-up rise on Wednesday.
The market was rattled on Wednesday by a Bloomberg News report that Russia was considering stepping up ballistic missile strikes on Ukraine after concluding that efforts to negotiate a peace deal have reached a dead end.
The report dimmed hopes of a swift recovery in Black Sea shipments after tit-for-tat attacks in recent weeks brought grain loadings at Russian and Ukrainian ports to a virtual halt.
"Black Sea risk dominates, with renewed Russian attacks, damage to export infrastructure and severe Ukrainian shipping bottlenecks increasingly shifting the market narrative from temporary disruption towards a potential structural reduction in Black Sea supply," British merchant ADM Agriculture said in a note.
Growing signs of importers turning to other origins, including European Union supplies, were also supporting international prices.
In France, two vessels are due to call in the coming days to load wheat for Egypt, according to shipping data and traders.
Another vessel loaded 48,000 tons of French wheat at Rouen last week for Sudan, data from the port showed on Thursday. Separate loading data from LSEG had shown last week that the ship was due to call at Rouen and then Dunkirk to load the first French wheat for Sudan in 18 years.
However, Argus analysts on Thursday forecast that French soft wheat exports outside the EU will fall sharply this season, with a weather-hit maize crop expected to lead to more wheat being used to feed livestock within Europe.
Tunisia's state grains agency purchased about 125,000 metric tons of soft wheat in an import tender on Thursday, according to traders.
Prices at 1607 GMT
Last
Change
Pct Move
Paris wheat <BL2Z6>
246.75
1.50
0.61
Paris maize <EMAc1>
266.25
3.75
1.43
Paris rapeseed <COMc1>
540.50
2.25
0.42
CBOT wheat <Wv1>
758.50
10.25
1.37
CBOT corn <Cv1>
534.75
-1.75
-0.33
CBOT soy <Sv1>
1267.50
1.50
0.12
WTI crude oil <CLc1>
82.56
0.33
0.40
Euro/dollar <EUR=>
1.17
0.00
0.01
Most active contracts - Wheat, corn and soy U.S. cents/bushel, Paris futures in euros per metric ton
($1 = 0.8584 euros)
(Reuters)
