Weak US exports and profit taking weighed on wheat quotations in Chicago on Friday. With only 131,000 tonnes of US wheat, weekly US export sales were well below market expectations of 225,000-500,000 tonnes. Institutional investors sold 2,500 lots of CBoT SRW wheat on Friday. The eCBoT is even weaker this morning. At Euronext in Paris, wheat quotations were able to escape the negative overseas guidance and closed moderately firmer with renewed weak sales. The weaker euro exchange rate, weather risks and initial results from the Algeria tender supported the market. In the shortened trading week and the absence of large market participants, however, the market as a whole lacked crucial momentum. Algeria's state-owned grain agency OAIC has purchased at least 390,000 tonnes of wheat of optional origin at prices ranging from $ 209.25 to $ 213 / tonne c & f as part of an international tender process. Traders reported strong competition between France and Argentina. EU soft wheat exports in the current season, which started on 1 July, to 10.6 million tonnes by 2 January 2018. This is 20% less than in the previous year, when 13.3 million had been executed by this date.
