Weekly EU wheat export figures shrink as sales lag 34% on year

EU wheat sales continued to disappoint, with the third-lowest volume seen this marketing year leaving in the week to December 12.

The latest figures show just 156,129 mt of wheat export licenses issued at a time of year when exports are typically in full swing as sellers rush to get their product out ahead of the holiday period.

Total sales for the 2017/18 marketing year now now stand at 9.01 million mt.

The EU has lost much of its market share to Russia this year, where ports are now working overtime to keep up with the pace of sales and get a record-breaking crop out onto the global market.

While there was positive news in the market for some exporters this week as Saudi Arabia bought French wheat and Morccoo announced it was in the market for 363,636 mt of EU-origin wheat, sales to date remain 34% down on year.

France and Poland were the only exporters of note this week, recording sales of 85,806 mt and 58,410 mt respectively.

Corn imports shrank on last week, with 118,566 mt coming in compared to an average of 282,774 mt over the course of the marketing year.

Despite this, imports are still 50% higher than last year, at 6.42 million mt as buyers have looked to take advantage of low prices around the world.