Wheat prices in western Europe rose to a 3-month high on Wednesday boosted by heavy export demand and tensions in exporter Ukraine. May milling wheat, the most traded contract on the Paris-based Euronext market, was up 1.75 euros or 0.9 percent at 205.75 euros a tonne at 1730 GMT after hitting 207.00 euros, a three month high. New grain exports contracts with foreign trading houses are halted in Ukraine due to the crisis with Russia, Agriculture Minister Ihor Shvaika said on Wednesday.
But with wheat already harvested and shipped and global stockpiles of corn that can substitute for Ukrainian maize, it appears unlikely, at least for now, that there will be major global supply shocks. "Markets are likely to remain twitchy about the Black Sea situation," UK merchant Gleadell said in a market update. May feed wheat futures in London rose 0.70 pounds to 163.20 pounds a tonne.
Algeria bought between 300,000 and 350,000 tonnes of milling wheat at between $310 and $311 a tonne, cost and freight included, in a tender that closed on Tuesday, European traders said on Wednesday. Traders also noted the release of fresh tenders from Tunisia and Lebanon, which come at a time when prices are high but could suggest these countries fear a further rise in price. In its first forecasts for the 2014 harvest, the European Commission said the bloc's wheat output should remain nearly stable in 2014/2015, at 134.7 million tonnes against 134.3 million in 2013, as a rise in the area sown is offset by lower yields.
