EU wheat exports down 19% YOY: EC

EU wheat exports continue to lose ground on previous years, with 135,143 mt of wheat leaving in the week to February 21, data from the European Commission showed Thursday.

Tough global competition has seen Russia, Argentina and Canada steam ahead at the EU’s expense this year, while a stronger euro has only exacerbated the problem for European sellers.

Total EU wheat exports now stand at 13 million mt, 19% lower than at the same stage last year.

And while separate European Commission data shows intra-EU demand picking up some of the slack in export volumes, total sales between member states are still down on the same stage as last year.

France was again the only exporter of note in the week, selling 91,800 mt to take its total for the 2017/18 marketing year to 4.52 million mt.

Corn imports were slightly lower week-on-week at 212,702 mt, but strong buying over the course of 2017/18 has pushed imports 49% higher than last year to 10.68 million mt.

Spain was the biggest buyer for the week, taking 66,890 mt and extending its buying for the year to 885,895 mt.

Weekly soybean imports came to 241,451 mt, taking the 2017/18 total to 8.11 million mt –5% less than at the same stage last year.

The Netherlands is the EU’s biggest buyer of soybean since July, having bought 2.36 million mt, followed by Spain 1.97 million mt, and Germany with 1.3 million mt.