Euronext wheat prices stabilized on Friday, after falling to a two-week-low in the previous session. A reduced estimate of Ukrainian sowings and reports of a strike at Odesa Port shifted attention to weather and war risk to Black Sea export supplies.

The December wheat price on Paris' Euronext rose 0.1% to 216.00 Euros ($241.01) per metric tonne by 1552 GMT. This was a recovery from the low of 214.75 Euros seen Thursday.

Chicago wheat has also gained ground.

After a rally at the beginning of September, this week saw a rapid export of Russian and Ukrainian wheat that was cheaper.

Paris and Chicago futures continued to rise on Friday, after Ukrainian authorities announced that a Russian rocket strike had damaged infrastructure in the Black Sea Port of Odesa and also a civilian vessel.

Prices fell as it was not clear if there was a grain shipment involved. Like previous attacks, the disruption to shipping was minimal.

A futures dealer explained that if a silo of corn or wheat were to be hit, the market would likely panic. But this is not the case.

Prices were also influenced by concerns that dry weather in Ukraine and Russia could affect the planting of wheat for next year.

According to ministry data released on Friday, Ukraine's Farm Ministry has reduced its forecast for 2025 winter wheat areas from 4,69 million hectares previously.

The ministry did not give a reason for this revision, but the change comes at a time when the weather is so dry in many parts of Ukraine that traders expect to cut down the rapeseed area.

The grain trade association Coceral has reduced its forecast for this year's soft-wheat crop in Europe and Britain from 134,5 million to 126 millions metric tons, down from the original June estimate of 134,5 million.

This included a revised EU production estimate of 114,9 million tons, which is 9% lower than last year's levels.

France, the EU's largest exporter, will see its wheat shipments to other countries plummet. The rain-damaged crop produced the lowest volume in the past 30 years, along with mixed quality milling.

Port data compiled and analyzed by LSEG revealed that wheat shiploads remained low, and barley exports were still the leading early-season grain shipments to China.

(source: Reuters)