On the US market, Kansas hard wheat futures hit a new six-week high in overnight trading amid concerns that severe cold could hurt US crops already struggling with dryness. However, US futures later edged down as traders awaited a clearer picture of potential crop losses. "EU prices have also tried to rally, supported by the firmer US market," UK grain merchant Gleadell said in a note.
"However, the rise in the euro against the US dollar has limited gains." The euro resumed its recent rally against the dollar to touch a new four-month high at near $1.21, representing a drag on export prospects for western European grain. However, traders saw scope for fresh French exports in a tender held by Algeria, the largest overseas market for French wheat.
Traders said there was talk that exporters had made offers at around $213-214 a tonne, cost and freight, but the results were not yet known. French wheat could face competition from cheap Argentine prices, they added. European Union export data due on Thursday was postponed due to an unresolved technical hitch that had already prevented the publication of the weekly data before the year-end holidays, the European Commission said.
Traders were monitoring wet conditions in the EU's biggest grain producer France, where heavy rain was continuing after a damp December. Rainfall in France as a whole last month was 30 percent above the average levels of recent decades, public weather service Meteo France said on Thursday. With widespread rain expected in the week ahead, analysts said the risk of crop damage would have to be watched, although they noted the moisture was also compensating for a dry autumn.
In a monthly trading update, Euronext said average daily volumes for its commodity derivatives was 38,024 contracts in December, down 36.7 percent from the previous month. For 2017, the overall average daily volume was 550,106 contracts, up 12 percent from 2016. Separately, Euronext said it had obtained a temporary waiver from a new EU rule aimed at allowing investors to use different clearing houses for derivatives transactions.