EU wheat steadies after fall as euro dips against the dollar

PARIS, Feb 10 (Reuters) - European wheat futures steadied on Tuesday, recovering from their lowest in nearly two weeks, helped by a pause in the euro's gains against the dollar.

March milling wheat BL2H6 on Paris-based Euronext settled unchanged from the previous close at 189.50 euros ($225.52) a metric ton. The contract had touched its lowest since January 28 at 188.50 euros on Monday.

The euro EUR= weakened slightly against the dollar after a two-session rally that had pressured Euronext by making European grain more expensive for export. FRX/

European traders had been waiting for fresh direction from a U.S. Department of Agriculture world crop report released near the end of the session. But the report drew little immediate reaction, with the USDA's changes to its world wheat forecasts broadly in line with expectations.

Chicago wheat Wv1 edged down. GRA/

Brisk recent demand from major importer Egypt remained a market focus.

Reaction to talk of further sales of French wheat to Egypt has been tempered by signs that much larger volumes have been booked from Black Sea countries.

After traders estimated that Egypt imported several hundred thousand tons of Russian wheat in January, there was talk that Egyptian buyers were interested in Russian and Ukrainian wheat this week.

Russian and Ukrainian 11.5% protein wheat were about the same at around $248 a ton cost and freight (c&f) for February shipment to Egypt. That compared with French and Romanian wheat at about $249, a German trader said.

Weekly European Union data showed that the bloc had exported 13.43 million tons of soft wheat since the start of the season, up 2% from a year earlier, though figures for some EU countries were still incomplete.

In France, the agriculture ministry nudged its 2026 sowing estimate for the country's main wheat crop slightly higher, confirming its expectation of an expanded area compared with last year.

($1 = 0.8403 euros)