EU wheat slips further on demand doubts

PARIS, Jan 15 (Reuters) - Euronext wheat fell for a second straight session on Wednesday as traders remained focused on sluggish export demand for EU supplies.

Benchmark March milling wheat BL2H5 on the Paris-based Euronext settled down 1.3% at 228.25 euros ($234.89) per metric ton. A downside chart gap created at the opening added to selling momentum, dealers said.

Data on Wednesday showing that financial investors widened their net short position in Euronext wheat last week added to the bearish mood, they said.

Euronext failed to get impetus from Chicago, where wheat Wv1 flitted in both directions. GRA/

"Russian wheat prices are still not rising and demand is poor," a futures dealer said.

Monthly estimates from FranceAgriMer, in which the farm office maintained its forecast for the lowest French soft wheat exports outside the European Union this century, underscored poor prospects for the EU's main wheat producer.

“Export gloom is hanging over the market,” one German trader said. “The FranceAgriMer figures again showed that the west EU is still on the export sidelines.”

With cheaper Black Sea and Argentine supplies seen dominating short-term demand from importers, EU exporters were expected to continue relying on sales to Morocco.

Traders were also watching developments after a case of foot-and-mouth disease on a farm in east Germany on Friday which sparked meat import bans by Britain and other non-EU countries.

“No new cases have been reported so far, and there is hope this could be a containable single incident rather than a major crisis,” another trader said.

“If German meat exports can continue to our main market, the EU, there should not be too much of an impact on feed grain demand.”

($1 = 0.9717 euro)

(Reporting by Gus Trompiz in Paris and Michael Hogan in Hamburg
Editing by Matthew Lewis)

((gus.trompiz@thomsonreuters.com))