EU wheat exports plumb new depths as weekly sales fall to 128,710 mt

EU wheat exports in the week to December 6 dropped off to 128,710 mt, less than half of last week’s figure and one of the smallest weekly totals on record.

There have been only three weeks since the 2015/16 marketing year that have seen wheat export figures as low as the past week – two in this marketing year, and one at the transition from old crop to new crop at the end of the previous.

Total wheat exports stand at 8.75 million mt, 23% lower than at the same stage last year and 22% on the three-year average.

France and Lithuania were the only exporters of note in the week, selling 76,361 mt and 37,407 mt respectively.

French soft wheat exports for the year now stand at 2.81 million mt, up from 2.08 million mt at the same stage last year, but below the average of 3.06 million mt seen over the previous three marketing years.

Lithuanian exports stand at 905,272 – up from the same stage last year when it had shipped out 633,072 mt, but down from the three-year average of 1.05 million mt.

A small glimmer of hope was seen for EU exporters, with market rumours Thursday of at least five Panamax vessels booked from Germany for delivery to Saudi Arabia over December and January.

The trade was reportedly done below prevailing German market values, which is currently around $200/mt – a $10 premium to the most competitively-priced wheat currently coming out of Russia’s Black Sea.

Saudi Arabia is the second biggest importer of EU-origin wheat this marketing year, having bought 1.53 million mt, behind Algeria at 2.05 million mt and ahead of Egypt at 893,842 mt.