EU wheat flat on signs Russian/Ukrainian port attacks not escalating

- European wheat futures in Paris were unchanged on Monday on relief that attacks on grain shipping and grain port terminals by Russia and Ukraine were not intensifying, traders said.

European wheat posted its biggest weekly gain in more than four years on Friday after Russia and Ukraine carried out repeated strikes on each other's grain shipping and port grain terminals, which both sides had generally left in peace during their war.

Benchmark September milling wheat <BL2U6> on the Paris-based Euronext exchange ended the daytime session unchanged at €234.75 ($267.97) a metric ton. It gained 8.4% last week on concerns the attacks on grain shipping could cut Black Sea wheat exports.

"Although there were continued attacks on grain ships over the weekend, the grain vessels and terminal attacks do not seem to be getting worse and Ukraine seems to be concentrating its attacks on tankers," one German trader said.

There was considerable relief Ukraine has not hit the huge grain terminals at Russia's Novorossiysk port, which could cause major disruption to grains markets, he said.

"The market seems to be taking a pause despite the events of the weekend,” one French trader said. "I think that in the absence of visibility on a potential agreement, the trend should not change much. I hear that Black Sea FOB wheat values are still very firm, so that also limits the downside for the market."

Euronext fell despite more bad news about the French crop.

France's soft wheat crop is expected to fall to 30.80 million metric tons this year, down 7.6% from 2025, after dry and hot weather hit yields in the European Union's biggest producer of the cereal, Argus Media said on Monday.

($1 = 0.8760 euros)