Euronext wheat steadies after lows

PARIS, Aug 29 (Reuters) - European wheat futures edged up on Friday to recover from contract lows, supported by a rally in Chicago corn, traders said.

Large global supplies, tepid international demand and signs of accelerating exports from Russia limited gains, however.

December milling wheat BL2Z5 on Paris-based Euronext settled 0.8% higher at 194.00 euros ($227.12) per metric ton. On Thursday, it had set a contract low of 191.75 euros that also marked the weakest second-month price BL2c2 since March 2024.

September wheat BL2U5, which expires on September 10, ended 1.1% higher at 191.50 euros a ton, moving away from Thursday's contract low of 188.00 euros.

Chicago wheat Wv1 was also firm, helped by a sharp rise for U.S. corn that was boosted in turn by strong exports and positioning before the Labor Day holiday weekend in the United States. GRA/

In Europe, traders were assessing Russia's increasing competitiveness after a sluggish start to its wheat export season.

“The supply outlook is looking larger with new-crop exports by Russia gradually increasing after a very slow start and Russian prices declining, although slowly,” one German trader said.

Market estimates were putting Russian exports so far in August at well above 3 million tons, including 700,000 tons to Egypt, the trader added.

Consultancy Sovecon has increased its estimate of Russian August exports to 4 million tons, double the July volume.

Russian 12.5% protein September wheat was on Friday around $232-$234 a ton FOB. Russian 11.5% protein wheat was around $227 to $231 a ton FOB, about $2 cheaper than French depending on Euronext and exchange rate moves.

In Poland, the rain-disrupted harvest is finishing, with traders estimating about 30% of the crop will only reach feed quality, like in Germany.

A ship is loading about 55,000 tons of Polish feed wheat in Gdynia for an unusual sale to Vietnam, traders said, in a sign of export demand for lower-grade wheat.

Poland was nonetheless expected to have a milling wheat export surplus of 5 million tons out of an expected harvest of 13.5 million tons, one Polish trader said.

“Despite the high volume of feed wheat Poland is still likely to have enough milling wheat for domestic and export needs,” the trader said.

"But the concern is where will Poland export to when competition from the Black Sea looks like being so hard.”

($1 = 0.8542 euros)