By Rudy Ruitenberg Feb. 15 (Bloomberg) -- Wheat futures declined in Paris as the outlook for rising global stocks weighed on prices. Corn and rapeseed also fell. Milling wheat for March delivery traded on NYSE Liffe dropped as much as 0.6 percent to 125 euros ($170.10) a metric ton, and traded at 125.25 euros at 3:01 p.m. in Paris. The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Feb. 9 said world wheat stockpiles will rise to 195.9 million tons by the end of May from 164 million tons a year earlier as production exceeds consumption for a second year. “The fundamentals on wheat are heavy, so the prices are under pressure,” said Edouard Tallent, an analyst at French farm adviser Offre et Demande Agricole. The global stocks level “means prices won’t take off anytime soon,” he said. March-delivery wheat has traded between 124.75 euros and 127.50 euros a ton for the past 15 sessions. Wheat for November delivery, after the next harvest, slipped 0.4 percent to 135 euros a ton. Trading on the Chicago Board of Trade was closed today for the Presidents Day national holiday. Paris wheat prices have bottomed out at about 125 euros for the nearest contract because farmers are reluctant to sell at current prices and European Union exports have been at a “good level” in past weeks, Tallent said. “Those elements support the price,” Tallent said. “In the medium term, we don’t see a lot happening until the plants in Europe start coming out of dormancy.” Winter wheat across the region will start coming out of dormancy in March and April, according to him. EU soft-wheat export licenses in the past five weeks have been above the weekly average for the year since July. Export certificates in the seven days through Feb. 9 were for 384,000 tons, unchanged from a week earlier, according to EU data. Paris-traded corn for delivery in March slipped 0.4 percent to 131.50 euros a ton, while rapeseed for May delivery was down 0.1 percent 292 euros a ton. To contact the reporter on this story: Rudy Ruitenberg in Paris at rruitenberg@bloomberg.net

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