Updates with closing prices after USDA data

PARIS, June 30 (Reuters) - Euronext wheat and maize futures were little changed on Tuesday as the market looked beyond U.S. crop data and assessed contrasting harvest prospects in Europe following a heatwave, traders said.

September wheat BL2U6 on Paris-based Euronext settled 0.3% down at €202 ($230.54) a metric ton. It earlier reached its lowest since June 16 at €200.25 but held the psychological €200 floor.

November maize EMAX6 settled unchanged at €225.50 a ton, after setting another contract high at €228.

The European market showed little immediate reaction to U.S. Department of Agriculture's planting and stocks estimates. That data included a lower-than-anticipated wheat area and higher-than-expected corn acreage, supporting gains in Chicago futures. GRA/

Euronext wheat had rallied to a four-week peak last Wednesday during a record heatwave in France.

But with French wheat expected to be less affected than maize, and high volumes in the Black Sea zone likely to offset losses in France, Euronext prices have lost momentum.

Initial reports from barley and wheat harvesting in France indicated some disappointing, but not dire, yields along with good grain quality, industry group Intercereales said on Monday.

Argus has raised its forecast for Russian wheat production in 2026/27 to the highest since the record 2022/23 harvest, it said on Monday.

Soft wheat exports from the European Union since the start of the 2025/26 season last July had reached 23.17 million metric tons by June 28, up 8% from a year earlier, European Commission data showed, though figures for several EU countries remained incomplete.

Maize production in France could plummet 30% this year to its lowest this century, after the recent heatwave damaged crops and farmers planted less of the cereal, growers' group AGPM said on Tuesday.

After weekend storms that broke the heatwave and brought showers in some areas, very limited rainfall was forecast in France for the coming two weeks, which could increase stress on maize and other spring-sown crops, traders said.

Intense heat has moved eastwards across Europe since the end of last week, though it was not expected to last long enough to pose a serious threat to crops.

($1 = 0.8762 euros)