EU 2023/24 soft wheat exports down 2% at 22.8 mln T by March 23

Soft wheat exports from the European Union since the start of the 2023/24 season in July had reached 22.8 million metric tons by March 23, down 2% compared with 23.2 million a year earlier, data published by the European Commission showed on Tuesday.

EU barley exports totalled 4.2 million tons, down 12% against 4.8 million tons in the corresponding period in 2022/23, while EU maize imports were at 13.2 million tons, 38% below theyear-earlier 21.5 million tons.

The publication was the first for three weeks due to a prolonged technical issue, and some data was still lacking.

The latest EU figures went up to Saturday, rather than Sunday as normally. Among EU countries, data for Ireland was missing since June 2023, import data for Bulgaria only ran up Jan. 10, 2024 and import figures for Hungary went up to Nov. 27, 2023, the Commission said in a note.

EU wheat imports were running above last season’s pace, with soft wheat imports up 4% at 7.12 million tons, led by nearly 5 million tons from Ukraine.

High volumes of Ukrainian grain shipped to Europe, since Russia’s invasion disrupted Ukraine’s traditional sea trade, have caused a backlash among EU farmers.

The bloc is proposing to include maize in Ukrainian farm products subject to trade limits but France is pushing for wheat to be added the list.

The Commission listed the top five destinations for EU soft wheat exports this season, compared with a year ago, as follows:

For maize imports, the top five supplier countries were listed as follows:

Tags: European Union, wheat, imports, maize, soft wheat, exports, barley