EU 2023/24 soft wheat exports at 9.33 mln T, down 22%

Soft wheat exports from the European Union since the start of the 2023/24 season in July had reached 9.33 million metric tons by Oct. 22, down 22% compared with 11.98 million a year earlier, data published by the European Commission showed on Tuesday.

A breakdown of the data showed Romania remained the biggest EU soft wheat exporter so far in 2023/24, with 2.57 million tons shipped, followed by France with 1.83 million, Poland with 1.65 million, Bulgaria with 937,000 and Lithuania with 890,000.

EU wheat shipments this season have been curbed by Russian competition, though large recent sales of French wheat to China may boost the EU export pace in the coming months.

EU barley exports totalled 2.37 million tons, down 9% against 2.61 million tons in the corresponding period in 2022/23. The total was dominated by 1.67 million tons in barley shipments from France, which was nearly all for China, the data showed.

In imports, EU soft wheat inflows were up 37% from a year earlier at 2.72 million tons, with drought-hit Spain by far the main importer at 1.51 million tons.

Imports of durum wheat, the variety used in pasta, so far in 2023/24 had reached 1 million tons, nearly five times the year-earlier volume, as EU countries led by Italy offset a poor harvest this year.

For maize, EU imports were at 5.45 million tons, 40% down from a year-earlier 9.04 million.

Spain was the largest EU maize importer so far in 2023/24 with 2.25 million tons, followed by the Netherlands (711,000 tons) and Italy (663,000 tons).

Tags: Poland, European Union, wheat, imports, maize, exports, Lithuania, Bulgaria, durum wheat, barley, soft wheat, Romania, EU, France