Nord Cereales expects to begin loading wheat headed for China from the grain terminal it runs in France’s port of Dunkirk, despite rumors of postponements by Chinese buyers, said Joel Ratel, the company’s chief executive officer.
Vessels due to load in December were confirmed, and Nord Cereales expected to ship about 250,000 tonnes for China this month as scheduled, Ratel said ahead of the firm’s annual meeting on Dec. 1.
China has become an important export destination for France, the European Union’s biggest grain producer. Rumors that several cargoes of French wheat due to load this month for China were delayed to March helped push European prices to two-year lows earlier last week.
China is estimated to have booked some 2 million to 2.5 million tonnes of French milling wheat for shipment between December and March. Vessels also are expected to load at Rouen in Normandy and La Pallice on France’s Atlantic coast.
Nord Cereales expects to load 800,000 to 1 million tonnes of wheat for China over December-March, though exporters had not yet confirmed shipping arrangements for subsequent months, Ratel said.
The China sales have boosted French wheat exports after stiff competition from Russia in markets like Algeria in North Africa.
Nord Cereales expects to load about 850,000 tonnes of grain, mostly barley for China, between July and December, down sharply from 1.5 million tonnes in the same period a year ago when France benefited from the Russia-Ukraine war’s disruption to Black Sea trade, Ratel said.
Upcoming shipments to China should allow the terminal operator to reach 2 million tonnes of grain loadings by the end of the 2023-24 season on June 30, compared with 2.2 million tonnes in 2022-23, he said.
