Paris wheat ticks lower ahead of bank holiday

PARIS, May 7 (Reuters) - European wheat prices edged lower on Wednesday as traders assessed the state of global supplies and awaited the outcome of a planned meeting between senior U.S. and Chinese officials that could be a first step towards resolving their tariff war.

Benchmark September milling wheat BL2U5 on Paris-based Euronext was down 0.4% by 1558 GMT at 204.75 euros a metric ton.

Chicago wheat futures were down 0.1%.

"It's a wait-and-see day, especially in countries like France where tomorrow is a day off," a trader said.

Despite a bank holiday in France, the Euronext futures market will be open on Thursday.

German traders reported thin export demand this week, with some supplies being diverted to buyers inland where domestic prices were sometimes higher than in ports.

"A series of inland waterways vessels are being loaded with wheat in German seaports to take supplies to domestic customers instead of going for export," one trader said.

"Inland wheat supplies in Germany are remarkably tight, despite our low export shipments this year, and people are starting to wonder if Germany’s 2024 harvest was even worse than statistics show. A couple of ships are loading in German ports, but this is old business being processed."

Germany’s 2024 wheat crop was sharply reduced by rain along with harvests in some other western EU countries.

"Ships currently loading in German ports include vessels separately taking on 30,000 and 25,000 tons for Angola, 30,000 tons for Cameroon while another will soon load 30,000 tons for Morocco," the trader said.

Non-commercial market participants extended their net short position in Euronext's milling wheat futures and options in the week to May 2, data published by Euronext on Wednesday showed.