EU year-end wheat loadings disappoint as exports fall 20%

EU wheat exports ended the year in a similarly underwhelming vein to the rest of the marketing year, with total exports down 20.2% year-on-year at 10.59 million mt.

EU exporters shipped out 267,099 mt of milling wheat in the week to January 2, the fourth-lowest weekly total this marketing year, data from the European Commission showed Friday.

Following a week-long delay caused by a technical hitch, the update shows exports over the festive period were down approximately 15% on the past two marketing years.

Meanwhile, December exports significantly lag those seen in previous marketing years, down 28.8% on the 2015/16 and 2016/17 marketing years.

Loadings for French wheat were the biggest over the week, with 126,069 mt taking the marketing year total to 3.44 million mt, with Latvia next at 71,054 mt (1.08 million mt total) and Lithuania with 66,000 mt (1.3 million mt total).

Corn imports continue to run away on previous years as buyers take advantage of low prices around the world.

Some 256,984 mt of imports were processed in the week, taking the marketing year total to 7.52 million mt –  46% higher than at the same stage last year.

The Netherlands saw 102,671 mt of imports, taking its total for the year to 1.51 million mt. Spain, meanwhile, imported 72,686 mt to take its total to 3.03 million mt.