EU wheat subdued as Trump's Iran deadline looms

PARIS, April 7 (Reuters) - Euronext wheat was little changed on Tuesday as traders braced for the outcome of a U.S. deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

May milling wheat BL2K6, the most active position on Paris-based Euronext, settled at 202.50 euros ($234.37) a metric ton, unchanged from Thursday's close before the four-day Easter break.

Euronext partly factored in a fall in Chicago wheat Wv1 on Monday when the U.S. market focused on forecasts of timely rain across a parched swathe of the U.S. Plains this week. GRA/

Chicago prices were mixed on Tuesday as investors also tracked choppy trading in crude oil ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump's deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to shipping or face massive attacks on civilian infrastructure. O/R

"The U.S. rain is bearish but it's not necessarily weighing that much because the geopolitical atmosphere is so tense," one futures dealer said. "Everyone is bearish fundamentally on wheat, but the market is scared to sell with the war going on."

A rise in the euro EUR= against the dollar curbed Euronext by making European grain more expensive for export as large global supplies chase limited demand from importers.

“The Black Sea region, especially Russia, still has large stocks to export in the face of this thin demand,” one German trader said.

European Union soft wheat exports so far this season have reached 18 million tons, up 7% from a year ago, though figures for several EU countries remained incomplete, official data showed on Tuesday.

Favourable crop conditions in western Europe were also restraining prices despite concern that surging fertiliser costs because of the Middle East conflict could affect harvest potential.

French soft wheat crop ratings showed 84% in good/excellent condition as of March 30, unchanged from a week earlier and up from 76% a year earlier, farm office FranceAgriMer said on Friday.

($1 = 0.8640 euros)