EU wheat ends the week lower in light trade

PARIS, Feb 21 (Reuters) - European wheat ended the week slightly lower in light trade with operators torn between thin exports, a slight rebound of the euro and confirmation of a poor crop condition in France.

Benchmark May milling wheat BL2K5 on Paris-based Euronext, was down 0.3% by 1645 GMT to 236 euros a metric ton, while deliveries from September onwards were trading slightly higher.

Meanwhile, the most traded wheat contract Wv1 on the Chicago Board of Trade was up 0.8% at $6.00-1/4 a bushel.

"The market is in a wait-and-see mode with geopolitics and the situation in Ukraine still very blurred," a French trader said.

"The situation in France has not improved much, which is also supportive although it's not really a surprise," he added.

The state of French soft wheat crops has improved slightly in the week to February 17 but is still close to last year's four-year low, data from farm office FranceAgriMer showed on Friday.

Second ratings on the condition of cereals in France after a winter pause showed that 74% of soft wheat was in good or excellent condition by February 17, up from 73% a week earlier and slightly above a four-year low of 69% a year ago.

French crops have been hurt by heavy rain that has delayed plantings and hampered early growth, raising concern about a repeat of last year's rain-hit harvest that was the smallest since the 1980s.

Rapeseed futures COMc1 pared some gains after hitting new contract highs earlier in the wake of Canadian canola in Winnipeg and palm oil in Kuala Lumpur.