EU wheat export figures extend gap, down 18.5% year-on-year

Wheat exports from the European Union continue to show little sign of improvement as the lag to last year's exports widens further, data from the European Commission showed Thursday.

A total of 211,688 mt of export licenses were issued in the week to January 17, taking the total for the 2017/18 marketing year to 11.33 million mt.

French sales again far outstripped any other origin, with 117,734 mt of sales in the week taking the marketing year total to 3.78 million mt.

Baltic States continued their steady pace of sales, with Lithuania exporting a further 54,999 mt to take its total sales to 1.4 million mt and Latvia selling 31,830 mt to reach 1.11 million mt.

Sales from major exporters Germany, Poland, and Bulgaria have lagged previous years, with increased competition from Russia and a strong euro making the bulk of EU wheat unattractive to buyers.

The UK, meanwhile, has suffered the effects of a smaller crop and a stronger pound over the course of the year, as sales total just 1,915 mt this year – down from 218,160 mt at the same stage last year.

Elsewhere, corn imports have grown, as 671,273 mt of corn was bought into the EU last week, with total imports now standing at 8.65 million mt, up 54% year-on-year.

Brazilian origin corn makes up the bulk of imports, with 52% more corn imported than last year at 4.5 million mt – almost five times the amount it had sold to the EU at this stage last year.

Ukraine, meanwhile, has sold 2.73 million mt, up 1.2% on the 2016/17 marketing year.