EU wheat exports surge 1.1m mt, as French, Italian data restored

European wheat exports jumped by 1.1 million mt in the week to October 4, as data from the European Commission was boosted by the return of figures for French and Italian exporters, according to a weekly update issued Tuesday.

Figures for the two nations - including the data for one of the bloc's major producers - have been missing for around six weeks and led to a sharp increase in overall figures.

Total wheat exports between July 1 and October 4 reached almost 8.1 million mt, 45% higher compared to the same stage of 2020, as French and Italian exports were finally added for the period from August 12 to September 29.

In terms of weekly exports, the bloc's figures stood at 326,773 mt, with 115,973 mt loaded out of Poland, 54,372 mt from Lithuania, 48,572 mt from Germany, and 39,415 mt from Latvia.

Algeria remained the main export destination, increasing its imports by 268,200 mt during the week to 1.17 million mt, followed by South Korea (822,575 mt) and Egypt (757,000 mt).

Barley exports picked up to 57,942 mt, divided between Latvia (25,372 mt) and Lithuania (31,500 mt).

Total exports moved to 2.46 million mt, 9% higher compared to the same period in 2020.

Weekly corn imports dropped to their lowest since the start of the marketing year on July 1 and totalled 99,150 mt, with more than a half of that taken by Belgium (53,035 mt).

Total corn imports have now reached 3.6 million mt, 17% behind last year’s pace.

Brazil (2.36 million mt) remained the number one supplier to the bloc, followed by Ukraine (798,991 mt) and Serbia (229,073 mt).